SF 

487 



||||(|||: 




iliiif 




n 



liijil I 

"iliiiff! 





!!i 



,A^^' 




/^^^r^:^.^' 



PHltAbEUPHlA? 



FORDHOOK KENNELS. 



Rou§:ii- 

Coated 



Scotch Collies. 




FORDHOOK PANSY, A. K. C. S. B., 14,030. 

Bred and Owned by W. Atlee Burpee & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 



OUR ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE ^f Collies as bred at FORDHOOK 
============:^==i===^= KENNELS, free upon application. 

ADDRESS 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Philadelphia. 



TH E 



POULTRY YARD: 



HOW TO FURNISH AND MANAGE IT. 



A TREATISE 

FOR THE 

Amateur Poultry Breeder and Farmer 



MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY 



AND THE 



MERITS OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS, 






.\ 



/ U*" COPYRir.Kr. " o 

(J S o ■) U ) 'fEB i 5 i3SJ 



10^ J 1 



By W. ATLEE BURPEE. 





1893. 
PUBLISHED BY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., 

SEEDSMEN AND STOCK BREEDERS, 

Nos. 475 AND 477 North Fifth Street, and 476 and 47S York Avenue, 

PHILADELPHIA. 






Copyright, 1893, by \V. Atlee Burpee & Co. 



Press of Wm. F. Fell & Co. 

1220-1224 SANSOM STREET, 
PHILADELPHIA. 



PREFACE. 



In presenting this edition of tlie Poi'ltry Yard to onr patrons and readers 
we have endeavored to make a number of vakiable additions, es])ecially in 
the art of caponizing, which is becoming so popular in this country. AVe 
have endeavored to discard theory, and present facts derived from tlie 
experience of those thoroughly posted. We lay no claims to entire origi- 
nality in this work. All breeders meet with much the same experience, and 
it has been our aim to compile from all reliable sources a concise treatise, at 
a low price, giving instructions to beginners. We have not attempted an 
elaborate description of the breeds of poultry, only endeavoring to state 
their respective merits and demerits, and thus enable every amateur to 
answer for himself the oft-repeated question, " Which breed pays the best ? " 
We would express our indebtedness for valuable hints, especially to The 
Poultry World, Wright' s Illusirated Book of Poultry, Mr. W. H. Wigmore, 
and Fancier ' s Journal. 

We have also introduced in this edition more illustrations and fuller 
descriptions of the new breeds, information much sought for by hosts of 
farmers and new fanciers, whose attention is constantly being awakened to 
the value of improved fowls. 



THE POULTRY YARD: 



HOW XO KURNISH AND NIANAQE IX. 



POULTRY HOUSES. 

WHEREVER practicable it is preferable to allow fowls entire 
liberty. Thereby they have abundant muscular exercise, can 
range at will over wheat stubbles, gathering many a worm, and 
are kept in the highest degree of health. When thus kept, as 
is the general custom of fariiiers, they must not, however, be allowed to 
"shift" for themselves, roosting on the trees or wherever they choose. 
No well-to-do farmer would allow his sheep or pjgs to run at random, 
without proper stabling or pens. It is none the less necessary to success 
in raising fowls that the same attention should be paid to them. It does 
not pay to constantly clean up the implements, wagons, etc., on which the 
fowls have passed the night. A farmer cannot afford to lose the droppings 
of his fowls, as there is no more valuable manure in the world. A thrifty 
breeder cannot afford the time to hunt over hay-mows, under pig pens, and 
among shrubbery, for hens' nests — perhaps only to find the eggs spoiled by 
incubation. For these and other evident reasons, poultry should have a 
house set apart especially for their wants. They do not require a large or 
expensive building. A building ten or twelve feet square is large enough 
for a flock of twenty fowls. The building should be about seven feet in 
height, and should face the south. The roof should be perfectly water- 
proof, and the sides free from any cracks or crevices to admit draughts 
of air. The front, if in a warm climate, can be made of slats, when 
abundant ventilation will be allowed. If the winters are severe it should be 
entirely closed in front, excepting a small hole for the entrance and exit of 
fowls, and a suitable opening for ventilation at the top. This latter can be 
accomplished by simply boring a considerable number of auger holes near 
together, or leaving an opening protected by slats arranged after the fashion 
of Venetian blinds. A suitable door must, of course, be made, for the 
entrance of the keeper. The house must be situated upon high ground, 
and the floor always dry. Many styles of poultry houses are in use, of 
which we give numerous plans hereafter, including those used at Fordhook 
Farm. For half a dozen fowls a very small house only is necessary. Unless 

5 



6 THE POULTRY YARD. 

protected, the entrance hole for the fowls will admit a great deal of cold 
air. For the following simple arrangements we are indebted to the Poultry 
Nation : — 

''Place a box in front of the outlet, tight up against the side of the 
house, leaving a hole at either end, next the building. Slanting a board 
from the ground to the top of the box in front of the hole, to break the 
wind in that direction, you have a house as near wind-proof as though it 
were entirely closed. If possible, pile manure, straw, gravel, or anything 
you might happen to have handy, around the box, thus keeping the wind 
out of the cracks, and making the house warmer. ' ' 

The interior of the house should be fitted up with roosts and nests. The 
roosts should all be on the same level, to prevent fighting for the highest 
place. They should not be more than eighteen inches or two feet from the 
ground for large fowls, and should be sufficiently wide. A good plan is to 
arrange the nests on the floor, under the roosts, protected by a board which 
will collect the droppings, and which can be readily scraped off. When we 
published the Americari Fanciers' Gazette, we received a communication 
on nesting places, from an experienced fancier, under the notn de pliane of 
" Amateur," from which we give the following extract : — 

'*In almost every plan for the construction of a poultry house an 
elaborate row of boxes is introduced, cunningly devised with a darkened 
rear passage, favoring the secrecy which mistress Biddy, it is well known, 
takes delight in, and who, once ensconced therein, finds everything lovely 
and serene. But there is one fatal objection to this symmetrical arrange- 
ment, according to my experience, which is this — the liability of mistaking 
the nests, and the confusion and loss resulting therefrom. 

" I have adopted, for years, the plan of having movable boxes placed 
on • brackets, elevated from one to three feet from the ground. They 
should be painted in different colors, if possible, so that the hen can easily 
distinguish her own from others. Nothing could induce me to return to 
the plan of stationary boxes, as my losses from mistakes have been next to 
nothing since I adopted this plan of movable nests. A cover of coarse 
wire netting placed over the setting hen during the first few days of 
incubation will prevent any disturbance afterward, almost certainly.'' 

If the fowls are kept in confinement, or have no other shelter, they should 
be furnished with a covered run for wet weather. Cleanliness is all import- 
ant, and it \% foul management indeed to allow a stench to arise in the 
fowl house, rendering the very air the fowls breathe impure, and creating 
the presence of the chickens' mortal enemy — vermin. The roosts should 
be scraped, the droppings removed, and a little fresh ashes, gravel, or loam 
strewn on the floor every morning. Also the nesting material should be 
changed whenever occasion requires. The interior of the house, the nests, 
and the perches should all be thoroughly whitewashed every spring and 
fall. No harbor should be presented for vermin, and the air must always 



SELECTION AND MATING OF STOCK. 7 

be pure. If fowls are confined in a yard the ground should also be 
frequently raked, and occasionally dug or plowed over. 

In constructing the nests we have already mentioned, it will be well to 
remember that several hens will frequently lay in the same nest, and conse- 
quently a smaller number of nests are necessary. Hens should not be set 
in the roosting and laying house. Some writers recommend a separate 
house for setting hens, and where poultry are raised in very large numbers 
this, doubtless, is desirable, but for the ordinary farmer is entirely unneces- 
sary. The hens can be set on the hay-mow, in the barn, wagon house, an 
unused stall, or any place where they will be quiet and undisturbed. 

In breeding several yards of fancy poultry, the usual plan is to make a 
straight house with yards extending out the entire length, and separated by 
slat fences. This will answer, but is open to the objection that the cocks 
will occasionally fight through the rails unless the fence is solid at the base, 
and if ever one slat should fall off, woe to the pure breds ! A very simple 
plan for a breeder of several varieties is to give them each a small, separate 
house and yard, situated in different parts of the ground. When the yard 
space allotted is very small, a movable fence can be used, and then the fowls 
can at any time be transferred to fresh pasturage. 



SELECTION AND HATING OF STOCK. 

In selecting fancy stock, of course the standard must be followed, and 
only the best and most nearly perfect specimens of their kind retained, 
provided they are all suited to each other. No hen should have the same 
faults as the cock. If one is faulty in a certain point, the other should be 
especially good in that particular, so as to counteract the bad impress upon 
the offspring. Experience with each breed must teach the fancier the best 
birds to retain for breeding. Often a bird that is not up to the standard, 
and sometimes even a disqualified bird, is desirable in the breeding yard, 
nay, of the highest importance ; for instance, in breeding Leghorns, a straight 
comb hen is invaluable to raise the finest and most erect combs on cockerels. 
So a spotted-breasted Dark Brahma and Brown Leghorn cock will produce 
the most beautifully penciled pullets. We remember seeing a communica- 
tion in one of the poultry journals, by the late Mr. J. W. P. Hovey, in 
which he stated the case of a friend who ordered a trio of Brahmas, at a 
high price, mated for breeding, from a celebrated English breeder, and who 
was disgusted at receiving a poor-looking trio of birds, whose equals /// looks 
could have been purchased anywhere at $2.00 a head. But appearances are 
deceitful, and blood \\'\\\ tell, as was proven by the result. From that trio 
sprung noted prize birds. And so it is, the skillful breeder knows how to 
mate his birds to produce the best offspring. Amateurs, in starting, make 
a great mistake in purchasing exhibition birds (as birds matched for exhibi- 
tion are seldom rightly inated for breeding), or in purchasing low-priced 



8 THE POULTRY YARD. 

birds from unknown sources. The best plan is to send the price of a pair 
or trio of breeding birds to a responsible breeder, who has a reputation to 
maintain, and state plainly that you want birds whose progeny will speak 
their ^^raises. In nine cases out of ten you will be satisfied, not only in the 
birds received, but in the chicks they breed. In mating fowls, it is gener- 
ally believed the hen affects mostly the size and form, and the cock the 
plumage and markings of the chicks. If a choice can be had, it is preferred 
to mate a cock (over one year old) with spring pullets. Be sure you select 
a good, vigorous cock, and the one who is the " boss rooster. " One cock 
will readily serve eighteen or twenty hens of the large breeds, and twenty- 
four to thirty hens of the small breeds. 

This has been our experience, and we first expressed our views on this 
subject in an editorial in the American Fanciers' Gazette. Instead of 
meeting the opposition we might have anticipated from " book fanciers," 
who had followed the laws of four to six hens to one cock, as laid down by 
other authors, we received several long letters giving experience strongly 
confirming our own. A good cock with a small number of hens will only 
worry and annoy them, often injuring them. With a large number of 
hens, as stated, some of the hens will, of course, generally be sitting. This 
ratio of hens applies to small flocks of fowls ; where the number is multi- 
plied there should be a rather less proportion of hens, as the majority of 
the work will devolve upon the " cocks of the roost." In selecting the 
hens, those of the greatest utility only should be used. If layers are 
desired, prove by actual count which individual hens lay the most eggs, and 
retain them. If size and early maturity, select the fowls most nearly 
perfect in these respects. Remember that fat is prejudicial to health and 
success with breeding fowls. It is not weight, but a large form, a capacity 
to take on flesh, that makes large chicks. See to it that the fowls do not 
breed large legs and necks ; look to the greatest development of the most 
palatable parts. Raise fowls of bright yellow skin and legs. These latter 
remarks are especially intended for the market poulterer, and we will only 
add, that no one can realize the great improvement possible, even in " dung- 
hills," by following up the "survival of the fittest." We cannot make 
monkeys into men, life is too short for that, but we can vastly improve the 
condition and value of our poultry. One of our farmers, by a course of 
judicious mating and selecting of mongrel breeding stock, so well established 
a strain of large, well-bred fowls, that he was able to dispose of his surplus 
stock to dealers at $5.00 a pair. There is no need of the farmer of to-day 
wasting tedious years in the improvement of his barnyard fowls, when for 
five or ten dollars' outlay in the purchase of a cock or pair of pure-bred 
fowls he can avail himself of the labor of others for many years. Poultry 
should not be bred in-and-in too much, but judicious in-breeding, to a certain 
extent, is necessary to establish a fixed type or peculiar strain. For 
ordinary farm use, we would recommend the introduction of a thoroughbred 



SELECTION AND MATING OF STOCK. 9 

cock of fresh blood every second year. Farmers cannot realize what a 
wonderful improvement a thoroughbred cock will make in a flock of mongrel 
hens. It will not hurt to make one cross of father with daughter, or of son 
with mother and half sisters. It is best to kill all hens when two and 
one-half years old, as soon as they begin to moult. After that the supply 
of eggs falls off greatly, and it does not pay to keep them. They can then 
be sold at a fair compensation. Do not count your chickens before they are 
hatched, is a wise injunction, but none the less will an intelligent breeder 
desire to coiitit his chicke?is before they die, and to do this with profit, the 
breeding stock should be slaughtered for market at the age already named. 

We will conclude our remarks on mating by the following extract, written 
by us for the American Fanciers^ Gazette, August, 1875 • — 

Luck in Mating. — So much has been said and written about science in 
breeding, that we propose, by way of variety, to briefly call the attention of 
our readers to the intervention, oft-times, of luck in mating. We do not 
class ourselves among the believers in mere luck, nevertheless it must be 
acknowledged that birds mated on the same system (or oftener, perhaps, lack 
of system) will and do produce diverse results. This, when looked at in one 
light, is not luck, but the rational results of nature's own laws. However, 
as far as the breeder is concerned, it is bound to prove either a lucky or an 
unlucky match. For instance, two birds are selected which are as near 
approaches to perfection as the art and skill of the breeder has attained 
unto; they are mated, and in some cases the offspring will be satisfactory,, 
in others (and the chances are about equal) they will be most unsatisfactory,, 
the products coming worthless, as mongrels. Now, this can be explained 
in some cases by the assumption (if the birds were of different but unknown 
strains) that the strains of which they are members had been bred for 
different results, and the one still possessed the fault which had just been 
eradicated from the other, but of which a tendency remained. Then these 
two birds possessing an inherent inclination to like faults, the offspring 
come possessed of those faults to a double degree. Again, the strains 
being bred for diverse purposes, all the breeder's pains are crushed to the 
ground by this sudden union, and nature will advocate its power. Now, on 
the other hand, if these birds are differently mated, they may ///r/v/v be paired 
to suitable birds, and then become the progenitors of worthy offspring. 

All that we have just now said shows that there is at bottom, in such 
cases, although the breeder may be ignorant thereof, a natural cause for 
these lucky or unlucky results. That such, beyond doubt, is the fact, in nine 
cases out of ten of the varied results of promiscuous matings, we are ready 
to acknowledge. But, on the other hand, the experienced breeder has or 
doubtless will come across cases which can be explained upon no such 
ground. Despite all his care and system in breeding and mating, results 
(we do not mean an occasional exceptional bird, but regularly) contrary to 



10 THE POULTRY YARD. 

the skilled breeder's expectations will crop out. And then, when the 
same birds are mated to other birds of the same blood as the previous 
matings, and having like defects and "fine points," vastly different will 
be the results. Not only so, but we have known different cases of two 
birds, upon being mated together, proving entirely sterile and unfertile, 
while both of these birds, being put to different mates, were perfectly 
capable of reproducing sound and healthy offspring. We could particu- 
larize cases which might more vividly illustrate the point at issue, but as 
we have already consumed considerable space, we do not think it necessary, 
as we can vouch for the truth of the above statements. 



WHAT AND HOW TO FEED. 

It is the general habit of Americans to give their poultry corn, corn, 
corn, morning, noon, and night. This may answer when the fowls have the 
unlimited range of a farm, and can constantly pick up insects, grubs, worms, 
etc., together with scattered grains around the barn floor, but even then it 
is very unwise. In confinement fowls would soon die on this diet. Corn 
is too heating and fattening for breeding purposes. Fowls should be fed 
regularly. They will soon learn the accustomed hours, and will employ the 
intervening time in hunting for worms, dusting and exercising themselves. 
Where they are at liberty, or have a large run, two feeds a day, morning 
and evening, are sufficient. It is best to make the morning meal of soft 
food 3 that, being most readily assimilated, will the sooner appease their 
empty stomachs and break the fast of the night. Boiled potato peelings, 
vegetables, and scraps, mashed up with slightly scalded bran or meal, with 
a little salt mixed, is an excellent dish for fowls. In winter, a little pepper 
will be valuable as a seasoning. 

As a soft food, the Poultry World recommends a warm compound of 
two-thirds wheat bran to one-third meal, wet with skimmed milk. This 
food has a good egg-producing effect. The bran does not tend to fat, and 
the milk is even better than meat in the production of eggs. Fowls may 
eat too much meat, but milk they may drink ad libitum, and those who 
have it cannot put it to a more profitable use. Fowls should have, like 
human beings, a goodly variety of feed. Scraps from the table are highly 
relished. Grain should be fed at night, as it will remain in their crops 
longest. Corn is the best staple for cold weather, as it is very heating, and 
keeps the fowls in fine condition ; but it should not be fed constantly in 
summer. Barley, buckwheat, oats, wheat screenings, cracked corn, rice, 
etc., are all excellent for a variety. Sunflower seed is invaluable for poultry, 
and can be grown as cheaply as corn. The Mammoth Russian is the best 
and most prolific. Single heads which we raised will measure one foot in 
diameter, and are well filled with an immense number of large, plugnp seeds. 
Breeding fowls must not be over-fed nor stuffed, but only kept in good 



WHAT AND JWW TO TEED. 



11 



working order. Beef scraps can be bought cheap, and are highly bene- 
ficial, in winter especially ; also occasionally a boiled sheep's or calf's pluck, 
chopped up, is recommended. In concluding our remarks on the feed of 
fowls, we cannot do better than append Lewis Wright's valuable table of 
the respective constituents of the various grains, etc., generally used for 
poultry, from which intelligent poulterers can draw their own conclusions : — 



There is in every 

loo parts by weight 

of 


Flesh-forming 

Materials, 
Gluten, etc. 


Warmth-giving and Fat- 
tening Material, viz. : 


Bone-mak- 
ing Mate- 
rials, or 
Mineral 
Substances. 


Husk or 
Fibre. 


Water. 


Fat or Oil. 


Starch. 


Beans and Peas, , . 
Oatmeal Middlings, 
Thirds or fine Sharps, 

Oats, 

Wheat, 

Buckwheat, . . . 

Barley 

Indian Corn, . . . 
Hempseed, .... 
Rice, ...... 

Potatoes, 

Milk, 


25 
18 
18 

15 
12 

12 
II 
II 

10 

7 

4>2 


2 
6 
6 
6 

3 
6 
2 
8 
21 
A trace. 

3 


48 
63 

53 
47 
70 

58 
60 

65 
45 
80 

41 
5 


2 
2 

5 
2 
2 

2 

I 

2 

A trace. 

2 


8 

2 

4 
20 

I 
II 
14 

5 
14 


15 

9 ! 
14 
10 
12 

II 

10 

8 

13 

so'A 

863^ 



On most farms both fowls and ducks are allowed to run together, hence, 
it is sometimes desirable to feed the one and not the other. The American 
Agricu/fun's^ suggests the following ingenious plan : — 

"The fowls can be readily fed by putting the feed on boards slightly 
elevated from the ground ; the ducks seldom attempt to fly up. To feed 
the ducks and not the fowls, a large flat pan should be procured and several 
bricks placed in the middle, in order to keep the food around the edges. 
Then a large inverted box or tub should be covered over the pan, supported 
by a brick in each corner. The ducks, by the flexibility of their necks, are 
enabled to feed, while the fowls can get nothing." 

Fowls require a constant supply of pure, fresh water. It is well occa- 
sionally to add a few drops of sulphate of iron to the water. The inde- 
structible stone drinking fountains so generally used are well adapted to 
hold the supply. A large one on the same principle can easily be made out 
of any old keg or small barrel. Insert a spigot near the bottom, and let 
its mouth rest in a movable tin cup ; the water will flow out only as fast as 
it is consumed in the cup. A cover should be prepared for the tin, in order 
to prevent the birds from fouling the water. This is best done by an oblong 
frame to fit over the cup — solid light wood at the sides and slanting top — 
the front being made of perpendicular wires. The water should be changed 
at least once or twice a day on excessively warm days in summer. In winter, 
once in three or four days is amply sufficient. We would here state that 
buttermilk and curds are highly relished by fowls, and are very nutritious. 



12 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



It now behooves us to mention the condiments requisite to good health 
in our feathered i)ets. These are neither many nor expensive, but are all 
important to the thrift and well being of fowls. Poultry must have lime 
in some form, for the formation of egg shell. Crushed oyster shells are the 
most desirable. They can be procured at a low price, crushed finely by 
machinery, at any dealer's store. Old mortar will also answer. They 
must have access to plenty of gravel containing small stones, which are a 
necessary aid to digestion. These are the "hen's teeth." Granulated or 
pure ground bone is invaluable for poultry, audit can be fed either in a dish 
'or hopper, or scattered on the ground, like corn. Broken charcoal should 
be supplied. It abundantly stimulates digestion, and also acts as a purifier 
in cases of Roup, etc. 

Fowls in confinement must have plenty of dust in which to cleanse 
themselves. Road dust is the best. Coal ashes are also good for this 
purpose. Customers have often asked our opinion as to the value of pre- 
pared food advertised for poultry. These preparations are, as a rule, tonics, 
which stimulate the production of eggs in fowls. From the great demand 
for the "Imperial" and other Egg Foods we know they are generally 
satisfactory. There is no doubt that the production of eggs is increased 
thereby, and it is a good thing for the fowls, especially when kept in con- 
finement. But it must always be remembered that breeding fowls should be 
in a natural coxi^\\Xox\, never over-fed or too much forced by stimulants. 

Before closing our remarks on feeding, we desire to call attention to the 
Mammoth Russian Sunflower Seed, as valuable for a change of diet. 

The accompanying illustration was drawn from a mammoth head of this 
variety grown by us, from seed which yielded us 120 bushels per acre. 

Single heads measure 12 to 22 inches 
in diameter, and contain an immense 
quantity of seed, which is highly 
valued by all farmers and poultry 
breeders who have tried it, as an 
excellent and cheap food for fowls. 
They eat it greedily, 
fatten well on it, and 
obtain a bright, lus- 
trous plumage, and strong, healthy 
condition, better than on almost any 
other food. It is the bi!st egg-pro- 
ducing FOOD known for poultry. It 
can be raised cheaper than corn, and 
is destined to be an article of great 
value as soon as it becomes generally known. Every farmer should plant 
some of the seed, on any waste piece of ground, any time from early spring 
up to the middle of July. It is a wonderful improvement on the old native 




GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 13 

sunflower, and besides the great value of the seed as a poultry feed, its leaves 
make capital fodder, while its strong, thick stalks can be profitably used as 
fuel. Three quarts of the seed will plant one acre. 



GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 

Success in any branch of business or industry is achieved only by the 
most diligent and the most eager to improve every opportunity. We often 
receive letters from men whose health has failed, very frequently disabled 
ministers, who desire some easy occupation whereby they can gain an honest 
livelihood, and who are inclined to favor poultry breeding. A man is 
always safe to keep out of a business he knows nothing about. If, how- 
ever, a good opening presents itself, we can safely say the raising of first- 
class poultry can be soon learned. We would advise beginners to start 
on a small scale and gradually increase. Poultry costs less to produce 
than beef, and brings a higher average price. Fowls and eggs are always 
in demand. The intelligent poulterer can often secure a slight advance on 
the ordinary market rates by invariably selling a superior article to appre- 
ciative customers. To succeed in the poultry business, one should have a 
natural love for fowls, and should start determined to devote to the breeding 
of fowls the same application and study which would be necessary to success 
in any business undertaking. Conducted on business principles, poultry 
breeding is as profitable — considering the small amount of capital required 
— as any of the lines of trade, and is not nearly so much overdone. But 
especially to the general farmer is poultry breeding remunerative. Fowls 
pay a speedy return for the money expended, and no farm stock yields a 
larger percentage on the capital invested. In breeding fowls there is one 
quite important item that is often neglected. We allude to the value of 
poultry manure. Wright states that he found the droppings from four 
Brahmas, for one night, weighed, in one case, exactly one pound; and in 
another more than three-quarters, an average of nearly four ounces each bird. 
By drying this was reduced to i ]:> ounces. Other breeds make less ; but 
allowing only i ounce per bird daily, of dry dung, fifty fowls will make, in 
their roosting-house alone, about lo cwt. per annum of the best manure in 
the world. Hence, in half a year this number of fowls, to say nothing of 
their offspring, will make more than enough manure for one acre of land, 
7 cwt. of guano being the usual quantity applied per acre, and poultry 
manure being even richer than guano in ammonia and fertilizing salts. 
These figures demand careful attention from the large farmer. The manure, 
before used, should be mixed with twice its bulk of earth, and then allowed 
to stand in a heap, covered with a few inches of earth, till decomposed 
throughout, when it makes the very best manure that can be had. 

We quote this to show that no "little things," which seem but trifling 
economies, should be neglected, but everything possible should be made a 



14 THE POULTRY YARD. 

source of revenue. The droppings must be kept dry, under cover. If 
fowls are slaughtered in large quantities the feathers also will be worth 
saving. The webs of the large feathers should be stripped from the quills 
and the smaller ones left as they are. They should be cured by baking 
four times in a cool oven, about half an hour each time, and allowed to dry 
for a couple of days between each baking. In supplying the market it is 
very desirable to have winter eggs. A little foresight will secure a good 
supply. Animal food must be furnished. 



DRESSING AND SHIPPING POULTRY. 

On this subject we quote the following, as given by a large commission 
house : — 

"In preparing poultry for market, do not feed for at least twenty-four 
hours before killing, as food in the crop injures the appearance, is liable to 
sour, and purchasers object to paying for this worse than useless weight. 
The French method is the most expeditious and humane way of killing, 
opening the veins of the neck or cutting in roof of mouth by means of 
knife (see illustration), and let it bleed freely, as poultry not properly bled 
will not have a bright, healthy appearance. The intestines or the crop 
should not be 'drawn.' For scalding poultry, the water should be as near 
to the boiling point as possible, without actually boiling ; the bird, being 

held by the head and legs, should be immersed 
and lifted up and down in the water three 
times ; this makes picking easy. When the head is immersed it turns the 
color of the comb, and gives the eyes a shrunken appearance, which often 
leads buyers to think the fowl has been sick. The feathers should then be 
at once removed, pin feathers and all, very cleanly, and without breaking 
the skin. It should next be ' plumped,' by being dipped about ten seconds 
into water nearly or quite boiling hot, and then once into cold water about 
the same length of time. Most of the dressed poultry sold here is wet 
picked, and such is generally preferred ; but very fat, handsome turkeys, dry- 
picked, sell well at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Great care should be 
taken to avoid cutting or bruising the flesh or breaking the bones. It should 
be entirely cold, but not frozen, before being packed. This is a matter of 
importance ; for if packed with the animal heat in it, it will be almost sure 
to spoil. If it reaches market sound, without freezing, it will sell all the 
better. In packing, when practicable, use hand-threshed dry straw; be sure 
that it is clean, free from dust of any kind, and entirely dry. Place a layer 
of straw at the bottom, then alternate layers of poultry and straw, taking 
care to stow snugly, backs upward, legs not doubled up under the body, 
but straightened out, and fill the package so that the cover will draw 
down very snugly upon the contents, to prevent shifting or shucking on 
the way. Boxes are the best packages, and should contain from loo to 



EGGS AND CHICKS. , 15 

200 pounds. Larger boxes are inconvenient, and more apt to get injured. 
The objection to barrels is, tliat the poultry is apt to be much bent and 
twisted out of shape ; they answer better for chickens and ducks than for 
turkeys and geese ; but when packed in barrels, should be packed on the 
side, keeping the legs out straight. Straw should be placed between the 
poultry and sides of the package to keep from freezing, though in very cold 
weather this cannot always be avoided. In packing large lots, avoid 
putting more than one kind in a package, and mark the kind on the cover. 
"In preparing frozen poultry for the late market, dry pick the poultry, 
as it will keep longer, hold its color better, and command better prices ; the 
head should be left on, and the manner of packing much the same as in the 
general directions, except no straw or packing of any kind should be used. 
Boxes of the following dimensions are preferable — say four feet long by two 
feet wide and fifteen inches deep (outside measurement). Use new inch 
lumber, well seasoned, and smoothly planed for the inside of the package ; 
they will pack two layers of turkeys or three of fowls. Larger-sized packages 
are inconvenient to handle, and do not meet with as ready a sale ; pack a 
layer of poultry in as many boxes as will be required to make one layer for 
each day's work; when frozen sufficiently, the second layer may be packed 
in like manner ; when full, the covers should be placed on and snugly nailed, 
and the boxes placed together and well covered with straw, say two or three 
feet in depth, or, should the weather moisten and thaw when the boxes are 
but partly filled, they should be protected in the same way, in which 
manner the poultry can be held and forwarded with entire safety. The 
packing should be done in a cold, dry room, separate from the slaughter- 
house, and not in the open air, as the wind is apt to turn the poultry dark. 
Mark plainly on each package the gross weight and tare, and the kind it 
contains." 

EGGS AND CHICKS. 

Eggs should be regularly collected every day. The wide-awake fancier 
can often learn to distinguish the eggs of individual hens, and when this is 
possible it is very desirable. Thereby, when it is desired to set a hen, the 
eggs can be retained only from the finest hens or those that are the best 
layers. Hens of the laying breed will lay 150 to 250 eggs per annum; 
common hens average about 100 eggs per head. Every nest must always 
have a nest egg (white china is the best), as it prevents the hens from laying 
away. Hard-shell eggs are always preferable, and hence it must be seen to 
that the hens have constant access to shell-forming material. It is not best 
to give them this in the form of broken egg shells, as they may from that 
acquire the unprofitable habit of eating their own eggs. The cure recom- 
mended, if the habit is detected early, is to place in the nest an egg shell 
filled with the strongest mustard, mixed rather thick. We often have 
inquiries as to whether eggs for hatching can be sent safely by express for 



16 THE POULTRY YARD. 

long distances. We answer, unhesitatingly, Yes ! We have sent eggs 
hundreds of miles by express, and had ii and 13 to hatch out of a clutch 
(13). And again, we have sent eggs equally as far and had none to hatch; 
then the purchaser, if he is a novice, is apt to think himself swindled, and 
write a very ungentlemanly letter. There is, of course, always some risk 
in transportation, but there are many other reasons why the eggs will some- 
times fail to hatch, whether sent by express or set at home. A good plan 
for shipping eggs for hatching is to take a good-sized box and make a 
''cushion" on the bottom, inside, with hay, one or two inches deep, then 
spread a layer of bran, on which pack the eggs, each nearly one inch apart 
and the same distance from the sides of the box. Cover with bran and then 
fill up with a good layer of hay. In cold weather each &gg should be neatly 
wrapped in a piece of paper. The lid of the box should be gently screwed 
on. The box should have a handle, of a piece of leather or the rim of a 
barrel. When eggs are ordered from a distance a sitting hen should be in 
readiness to receive them as soon as they arrive. If none of the hens are 
ready a broody hen can always be bought at a low figure froiii some neigh- 
boring farmer, or " swapped " for a laying hen. To make the hen take to 
her new nest she should be changed at night, and it should be as nearly as 
possible like her old nest. She should first be given some china eggs until 
she settles down quietly to incubation. The period of incubation is twenty- 
one days. Right here we might say that to preserve eggs for family use, the 
best plan recommended in Wright'' s Book of Poultry is to pack them closely 
together and keep tightly covered up in a mixture prepared as follows : — 

"To four gallons of boiling water add half a peck of new lime, stirring it 
some little time. When cold, remove any hard lumps by a coarse sieve, add 
ten ounces of salt and three ounces of cream of tartar, and mix the whole 
strongly. The mixture is then to be let stand to temper for a fortnight 
before use. Thus treated, if put in when newly laid, at nine months after 
they will eat quite as good as though only laid six days, though, of course, 
not quite like new laid." 

In keeping fowls for eggs it is not necessary nor even desirable to have a 
cock with the hens. Virgin eggs are preferred by epicures, and will some- 
times bring a slight advance in price on that account. To raise fowls in 
l^ge numbers they should be colonized in separate families. Twenty-five 
or thirty breeding fowls are plenty in one flock. An experienced poulterer 
once remarked to us that he could raise more young chicks and make more 
money from a flock of twenty-five fowls on his farm than he could from 
fifty — and we believe him. If it is desired to raise poultry in large num- 
bers, they should have separate yards, with plenty of room. When this 
plan is adopted, and at the same time eggs are the desired product, one pen 
of the finest fowls can be mated, to replenish the stock, and in the otliers no 
cocks will be necessary. In breeding fowls in separate enclosures in this 
manner, it will be well to allow each flock, on different days in rotation, the 



EGGS AND CHICKS. 17 

range of the farm. When fancy fowls are bred, it is always well to keep a 
sufficient number of common hens as sitters. Do not confine your fowls in 
too close quarters. We constantly see the bad effects of this mismanagement. 
The fowls become enfeebled, lose their vital power, and, as a consequence, 
the eggs are often worthless. Whenever it is practicable, we advocate 
unlimited range. When fowls are bred in confinement their wants must be 
constantly kept in view, and a plentiful supply of some greens, scraps, worms, 
etc., given. 

Hens should be set in the evening, and should be furnished with com- 
fortable nests in a darkened and unmolested spot. The nest should be made 
flat (when very concave the eggs do not lay so well), and is best made out 
of an inverted sod, or three layers of dry earth or ashes, with straw, hay, or 
forest leaves placed thereon. Thirteen eggs are the best number covered 
by average hens. But in cold weather eleven, or even nine, or seven — 
according to the size of the hens and eggs — are amply sufficient. A larger 
number would only become chilled. The hen should be taken off the nest 
(if she does not go off of her own accord) every day, for food, water, brief 
exercise, and a good dusting. Do not, as a rule, remove the young chickens 
until twenty-four hours after all are hatched. Occasionally one may need 
some assistance to get from the shell. This should be given cautiously, and 
only in extreme cases, by gently indenting the finger into the shell (without 
touching the inside membrane), in a circle from where it is clipped. When 
the chicks are hatched the mother should be placed in a coop about two or 
three feet square, placed on the ground and with slats in the front, through 
which the chicks can run out to exercise and receive food. Young chicks 
should always be kept dry and where they can get plenty of sunlight. It 
must be remembered that fowls attain their growth in from four to eight 
months, and can never make up for any " back-sets " in that period. Feed 
regularly and often until five or six weeks old, at first with cooked meal and 
hard-boiled eggs mixed. Give fine-chopped green food, and let them have 
the benefit of a grass run. The floor of the chicken -coop should always 
be kept clean and free from vermin by a fresh supply of dry dirt. Chicks 
should always be kept growing while young. If intended for marketing 
they should be forced and marketed early ; spring chickens pay the best, by 
all odds. For breeders, however, it is not necessary to hatch the chicks too 
early, as those hatched in milder weather require less care, grow better, and 
are fiiUy as profitable. Asiatics, however, intended for fall shows, should be 
hatched by the first of March. April, May, and June, however, are the best 
months for hatching fowls intended for breeders. After the first few days 
a small bit of meat can be chopped with the food once a day. Soft food 
should be fed fresh very often — only so much each time as is entirely 
consumed. A little bone meal should be added to the food. After the 
chicks are two or three weeks old the evening meal can consist of cracked 
corn and wheat, or good screenings. Chicks should always have a grass 

2 



18 THE POULTRY YARD. 

run ; if deprived of this, green food must be furnished to them daily. 
Chopped cabbage leaves are highly relished by them. A plentiful supply 
of pure, fresh water must be constantly at hand. In winter the chicks 
require more stimulating food than in summer. Beef scraps can be boiled 
and mixed with the soft food. If the chicks have been liberally fed they 
will be in prime condition for the table without any extra fattening. 
Growing chicks must always have plenty of exercise, and should not be 
crowded together in too close quarters. In raising fowls for market, as a 
rule, the chicks should be killed as soon as ready, certainly as soon as they 
have attained full size, as then better prices are generally procured than later 
in the season. The food afterward fed is, therefore, worse than wasted. 
Besides this, there is considerable risk from disease in holding a large lot of 
poultry. In breeding fancy fowls the young chicks that turn out inferior, 
" culls" or "scrubs," as commonly called (and alas ! even the best strains 
will sometimes throw these despised and ought-to-be-rejected specimens), 
should be marketed as soon as distinguishable, at from three to six months 
old. Don't be afraid to kill your poor chicks ; it is the only way to ultimate 
success. If all are killed this year there will be fewer next year. 



PRACTICAL CAPONIZINQ AND HOW TO MAKE POULTRY PAY. 

This chapter contains full details with illustrations of the business in all 
its branches, for which we are indebted to Mr. William H. Wigmore. 

The art of caponizing seems to be very little known or understood in this 
country. I therefore mean to condense the form as practiced by the best 
and most experienced English, French, and Chinese experts, together with 
such information as I have been enabled to gather from other sources. Poul- 
terers and farmers wishing to become experts in the operation of making 
capons would do well to imitate surgeons, who always try their hand on dead 
subjects before performing on the living. The operation is quite simple, 
and in France and Italy is frequently allotted to mere children. 

The advantage of capons is a much larger fowl. They grow to the size of 
a turkey, or in other words, they increase in size as a steer does to an ox. 
Their meat is sweeter and of a iiner flavor, therefore it sells at a much higher 
price. They can be made useful in raising or mothering many more young 
chicks from a hen or an incubator than the hen will, on account of their 
large size. They like the chicks' company, neither hens nor cocks having 
any use for them. Should they object to the young chicks, coop them up 
in a dark place for a few days, then they will gladly take the chicks under 
their wing. It is a common thing in France to put a small bell on his neck 
to keep the chick with him; it takes the place of the hen's clucking. 



PRACTICAL CAPON/ZING. 19 

ON CRUELTY 0¥ CAPONIZING. 

The operation can be performed in less than two minutes, therefore on 
the score of cruelty there can be very little said. It is no more cruel than 
castrating calves, colts, lambs, and pigs. Not only so, but male birds which 
could not be kept together without great danger of constant conflicts will 
live in peace and amity, besides, many more can be housed together. The 
former reason would of itself be sufficient to warrant the adoption of capon- 
izing, for the pain suffered by the bird is infinitesimal as compared with a 
single fight. The benefit, therefore, altogether outweighs any objection on 
the score of cruelty. But where there is the additional inducement of 
obtaining very much greater size in the fowls, with very little outlay, it is 
surprising that the plan has not been very largely adopted. In France 
capons and poulardes are very numerous indeed, even in the ordinary 
markets, and it is found that birds so treated thrive much better, fatten to 
a greater extent, and, as they are not so restless in temperament, lay on a 
finer quality of flesh. 

First, then, the question of profit, which in all commercial matters must have 
pre-eminent weight. Upon this score, fowls intended for the table should 
be caponized, because the chickens so treated can thus be made the most of, 
and will realize for the breeder more than they otherwise would. Many 
persons object to the giving of unnecessary pain, but there are certain things 
that may be done in which the pain is small compared with the benefit, 
and caponizing we regard as one. Causing pain for mere wantonness or 
pleasure is at all times to be strongly condemned, but, as in this case, where 
the infliction of a very slight pain saves greater suffering, and is attended by 
so many benefits, there can be no legitimate objection to it. But it is most 
important that any one who undertakes the work should be able to perform 
it without bungling, or very much unnecessary pain will be caused. 

It is very essential that proper instruments should be used, and I claim that 
mine have no equal in the market. I have manufactured and operated with 
all kinds of caponizing instruments for the past twenty-five years ; I therefore 
claim to know what are proper instruments. 

EXPERTS. 

There are several experts in my vicinity, who state that it is a common 
occurrence for them to make ten dollars a day caponizing cockerels for poul- 
terers and farmers in their neighborhood. Therefore, those having a taste 
for this line of business could turn quite a number of dollars into their pock- 
ets by becoming experts, and do the caponizing for farmers within a radius 
of five or ten miles. 

CAPON ADVANCE. 

I believe in a kw years farmers, to their great surprise, will wonder why 
they could not see the profit there is in caponized fowls ; besides, there will 



20 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



be capons on the bill of fare of different flavors, — celery, parsley, mint, etc., 
as the canvasback duck gets its fine flavor from the wild celery it feeds 
upon. 

CHINESE METHOD. 

The beveled knife a on the forceps is for making the incision. The 
whalebone B, with a hook at each end, is the spreader for holding the wound 
open. HookZ> is for tearing the thin skin open. Tube F, with horsehair 
at the end, is for sawing off the testicle. wS})oon e is for scooping out the 
testicles after they are cut loose, also for spooning out the blood. This set, 
I consider, takes great skill to operate with. I believe very few persons have 
patience enough to learn with this set. There are numerous other sets on 
the market, some of which are a slight improvement over the Chinese. 




Chinese Instkuments. 



BEST BREEDS. 

Brahmas, Cochins, Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Dominiques, and Dork- 
ings make fine capons. The advantage is the same with almost every breed, 
even the common dunghill. Always select the largest breed you have. At 
present, if you w^ere to call for capon at your hotel or cafe, you would not 
know whether it was a fine or common breed, unless you had made a study 
of their taste. Most any one who has eaten capon can tell them by the taste, 
as they are very tender and of fine flavor ; in fact, very few hotel mana- 
gers or caterers know themselves what breed they are serving to their 
customers. 

BENEFIT TO THE FARMERS. 

The question is often asked me, Would it pay a farmer to raise capons for 
his own use? The following is proof that it will. If they put loo per cent. 



PRACTICAL CAPONIZING. 21 

more money into the poulterer's pocket by the increase in price, and from 
30 to 50 per cent, more weight, the farmer's table will gain the extra weight 
without any extra cost. 

PROFIT IN CArONS. 
Every farm and poultry journal and poultryman will acknowledge that 
capons pay well to raise. You ask the farmers why they do not raise them. 
They generally say, I cannot or have not nerve enough to caponize. They 
should follow the example of a lady who ordered my patent set and in- 
structions, and afterward wrote as follows: — 

" Dear Sir: After receiving your patent set, I read the instructions over 
several times carefully. I operated on four dead cockerels. I then tried to 
cut a live one but could not. I took up the knife and laid it down several 
times. At last I nerved myself up to the task, and after the first incision, to my 
own surprise, my nervousness all left me. The following two days I caponized 
120 cockerels, and only lost three; besides, I attended to my regular house- 
work. ' ' 

I will here give you an idea of the extra profit she gets over the cockerels. 
She would have the 120 cockerels at 8 months old weighing 4 pounds each, 
or 480 pounds, and sell them for 13 cents per pound, which would net ^62.40; 
but as they are caponized, at 8 months old they will weigh 6 pounds each, 
or 720 pounds, and sell for 18 cents per pound, and will net her ^129.60. 
You see this is more than 100 per cent, profit over the cockerels. 

Another fact I will refer you to in the Poultry Magnet on page 85, June 
number of 1886, signed Blake, Cardington, O., who caponized 22 birds 
without losing one. They did well and averaged 10^ pounds dressed. He 
sent them to the New York market, and they sold for 21 cents per pound, or 
^48.50. After deducting the express charges, commissions, etc., the lot 
netted him $43.75. These same birds, if not caponized, would have weighed 
but 7 pounds each and sold at the same market for 15 cents per pound, and 
brought but $23.10, without deducting the express charges, commission, etc. 

The time is not far distant when the incubator will enable us to caponize 
all the year around. 

SLIPS. 

Slips are partly caponized fowls, and they are not very easily told from 
the cockerels, only by their large size and the wound on their side. They 
are often as large as the full capon. The cause of their being slips comes 
from leaving some of the testicle within. This piece will grow quite large, 
and in some cases larger than ordinary, and it is filled with a watery sub- 
stance. They are quite a nuisance to the hens, as they are constantly chasing 
them. There seems at present to be more slips on the market than full 
capons and they bring within 2 or 3 cents of the capon price. I am confi- 
dent the operator will not have a slip after operating upon a dozen birds with 
my set. Should you leave a small particle within, it is extremely easy to 
spoon it out with the aid of the slot in my scoop twister. 



22 THE POULTRY YARD. 

FEED. 
There is no difference in their food from other fowls after the first few days. 
They, of course, are without food from 24 to 36 hours before being operated 
upon, therefore are very hungry. They should be fed very sparingly for the 
first day or two on scalded corn meal with a little salt, then you can give 
them more. After a week give them plenty of food ; you will find them 
very ravenous for a month or two, then they gradually ease up and eat con- 
siderably less. If they are confined give them some bone meal, broken' clam 
and oyster shell. They should have plenty of the best water you have. 
Do not allow them to drink from dirty little puddles or stagnant ponds, 
which give them a bad flavor, also may cause disease. They should be kept 
separate for the first month or two, as you do not want your other fowls 
over-fed, which would be the case if you were to satisfy the capons' appetites. 
Any number can be housed together, on account of their quiet nature, so 
long as you keep their quarters clean and healthy. 

FOR MARKET. 
For market dress them as you would a turkey, with feathers on their necks, 
wings, and tail. The retailer can make them very showy by putting a nar- 
row ribbon around their necks and wings, as a butcher does his prize beef, 
veal, and lamb. 

DUCKS. 
It is more difficult to caponize ducks than any other fowl, as they are very 
compact, their entrails filling them up completely. At three months old 
their testicles are harder to get hold of. They are much longer and narrower, 
and lay closer to the back bone than in cockerels. It is common for their 
bowels to protrude through the incision while endeavoring to catch the tes- 
ticles in the scoop, something that never happens with any other fowl. 

PULLETS. 
Pullets that do not lay in due time may be made poulardes. Open their 
left side between the first and second rib, same as you would a cockerel, but 
do not tear open the thin skin covering the bowels, but look in the same 
position that you find the testicles in a cockerel, allowing the sun to shine in 
at the same time. You will see the egg cluster quite plain. If they are fine, 
like small fish roe, they will not lay for some time, in which case I would 
recommend altering them. 

OPERATION. 
Tear open the thin skin. You will see two milky white cords or tubes lead- 
ing down from the egg cluster. The upper or larger one, which is about the 
size of thin wrapping string, is the ^gg passage. Take hold of it with a pair 
of tweezers or a bent piece of wire for a hook and cut out about an inch. 



PRACTICAL CAPONIZING. 



23 



which will stop her producing eggs, and make her grow larger and improve 
in flavor, the same as a capon. But if some of the eggs are the size of a pea 
or larger, you may know she will begin laying soon, and I would save her. 
The cut in her side will heal up and not interfere with her a particle. The 
egg passage in a pullet about to lay is considerably enlarged, and after she 
has laid for a while it becomes the heaviest entrail she has. I would advise 
those wishing to make poulardes to kill a four-months-old pullet' and an old 
laying hen and cut their left legs off at the hip joint, then the plates from the 
second rib down, which will expose the bowels. Ease them out toward the 
front ; tlien you will easily see the bowels and egg passages in both, the 
bowel passage being on the right and the Qgg on the left side. Now you 
wish to make sure of the ^gg passage in the pullet. Introduce the probe just 
below the egg cluster, pushing it gently down the passage, and it will make 
its exit at the proper place. By doing this you know precisely what you 
have to do to make poulardes. Without this dissecting I consider it 
impossible to know what to cut unless you have been shown by an ex- 
perienced person. Some advise cutting below the flank. I consider the 
above best, because you can see the condition of their eggs — besides, it is a 
safer place to cut. 



OOi^niQuTEO isas 




This cut shows plainly my method of holding the fowl. One cord around 
both wings, the other around the legs above the knee joints. 

I would here state that the following illustrations were not drawn and 
engraved, but they were photographed from a live cockerel, and the hands 
shown are my own; besides, there was not a feather plucked from this bird's 
side. I generally bare enough of the flesh by wetting the feathers and turn- 
ing them under, as a man would in twisting his moustache. Figs. 6 and 7 
are photographs of a dead cockerel. Each and every piece of my set is 
entirely new and original with myself. Any scoop twister without "Pat- 
ented June 22, 1886" stamped on it is an infringement. 

Fig. 2 shows the fowl in position and the operator in the act of making 
the first incision. 

OPERATION. 

First have a narrow table, box, or barrel, so you can move it around and 
get the sun on the fowl in any position you wish, as the sun is a great aid 



24 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



to a learner. Lay the fowl upon its left side. Wrap the cord twice around 
the bird's legs above the knees. With one wrap they are liable to kick 
themselves out of the loop. This style hooks enables you to make a slip- 
loop quickly. The other cord put once around his wings. The opposite 
ends of the cords attach to a half brick or a weight of some kind, then let 




Fig. 



(Copyrighted jSSO.) 



them hang down over the sides of the table as shown in Fig. i ; by this 
means you have them secure. 

Wet the bird's side and feathers with cold water to prevent bleeding, and 
it will also make the feathers stay where you want them by twisting them 
under, as a man would his moustache. This will enable you to perform the 




Fig. 3. {Copyrighted /8S6.) 



operation without pulling a feather. Pull the flesh on the side down toward 
the hip, so when the operation is over the hole between the ribs will be en- 
tirely closed by the skin going back to its place. Therefore the opening in 
the skin will be ^ of an inch above that between the ribs, enabling the 
wound to heal up in a day or two. The incision must be made between the 



PRA CTICAL CAPONIZ/AG. 



25 



first and second rib, about }4 inch long, \yhen you are ready to cut, push 
the point of the knife in quickly one-quarter of an inch, and hold it there a 
second, as he will work his ribs up and down just at that moment. Then 
he will become quiet. Increase the cut to j4. inch. Lay the knife down, 
keeping the skin in place with the left hand. Now you are ready for the 
spreader. See Fig. 3. 




Fig. 4. {CoJ-yrighted iSSb.) 

Take the spreader between the thumb and first finger, press it until the 
two ends come together. Then insert the hooked ends in the incision with 
the spring end toward the bird's feet. Now turn the spring part toward the 
bird's back, making sure to have the hooks between the ribs. Hold the 
spreader in position with the left hand. Take up the knife again. See 
Fig. 4. 




(^Copyrighted i88b.) 



Increase the opening by cutting toward the back-bone and forward on a 
line between the ribs, until it is large enough to admit the free passage of 
the scoop twister. Care must be taken not to go too near the back-bone. 
After a little practice you will be able to do this cutting and draw little 
or no blood by cutting on a line with the veins instead of crossing them. 



26 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



Should they bleed much wipe \\ off with a damp rag or small sponge before 
you tear open the skin. Otherwise the blood will run in on the testicles 
and make the lower one harder to find. Take up the scoop twister. See 

Fig. 5- 

With the hook end tear open the thin skin until you have the right testi- 
cle well in view, and plenty large enough to press the scoop twister through. 




Fig. 6. (Copyrighted i886.) 

This hook must be used with care, or you may puncture an artery or the 
bowels. 

Take the probe in your left hand. With the ring handle push the bowels 
aside, and just below you will see the left testicle. Introduce the scoop 




Fig. 7. (Copyrighted /S8b.) 



twister with your right hand, see Fig. 6, catching the lower or left testicle 
endways in the scoop as shown in Fig. 7, gently shaking it to get it all in, 
and make the spermatic cord settle well down in the slot. Then begin to 
twist the testicle off. At this point learners will find the probe very valuable 
for keeping the testicle in the scoop, as it sometimes slips out, also for pre- 



PRACTICAL CAPONIZING. 



27 



venting the bowels being twisted up by the scoop. A number of these diffi- 
culties disappear with a little practice. An experienced person will find little 
or no use for the probe. 

Now remove the right or upper testicle, see Fig. 8, same as the left. 

Both testicles are shown in Figs. 7 and 8, to give you their exact 
position. The left testicle should always be taken out first, as it is the 
hardest to remove. If you remove the right one first and cause the 
bird to bleed, it will run over the lower one ; then you cannot see it as well, 
and will have much more trouble in getting it out. But when the left one is 
out it will not be over ten seconds before you have the right one out. I find 
most beginners want to remove the upper one first. They say they have a 
better view when the right one is out of the way, but that is only an excuse. 




Fig. 8. I^Cofyrighted iSSO.) 



Many persons like to do the easiest part first, therefore I insist on the lower 
one being removed first. 

If you should leave a small piece in by not getting it all in the scoop prop- 
erly, put the scoop in again and catch it in the slot, even if it is no longer 
than a pin's head, as these are the pieces that produce slips. 

If the testicle is very large, which you will find is the case with a four- 
month-old Leghorn, take the scoopful out, then go after the balance until 
you have it entirely out. 

If you cause much blood to flow, spoon it out with the scoop twister. 

The next day after the operation, if you find they have a windy swelling, 
just run a darning needle through the skin and it will all escape. Sometimes 
I just let them go and they come all right themselves. 

If you should cut an artery in the operation, they are as good for food as 
if they had been bled in the neck. 

If all right after the operation, they generally have a passage. 



28 THE POULTRY YARD. 

THE MOULTING SEASON. 

The moulting season is tlie most critical period of a hen's life. They 
require the utmost care and watching at this time. Food of a nutritious 
character should be given. Meat scraps fed in abundance at this time is 
one of the best of foods. The one who keeps poultry for profit is he who 
gathers eggs in abundance when his neighbors bring in few or none at all, 
the market prices being higher in exact ratio to the scarcity of the supply. 
Eggs, as a rule, are less plentiful during the months of October, November, 
and December than at any other time. The increased coolness of the 
weather causes this to some extent, but, no doubt, it is on account of the 
severe drain upon the system of the old hen during the moulting period, 
which, according to some authorities, lasts from sixty to ninety days, 
beginning some time in August. We must do our best to tide them over 
this exhaustive period of moulting in the best possible condition. Being 
forearmed and giving good, nutritious food in time to build up and 
strengthen their systems is one-half the battle, but feeding to fatten alone 
will not answer all purposes. Something more is required to tone up the 
system to its highest point of vitality. The general health must be perfect 
in every particular, each organ performing its proper functions without let or 
hindrance, and the hens cared for in such a manner as to make them happy 
and contented, always going and always busy. It is much harder to bring 
hens which are confined through the moulting season than those which 
are allowed to roam over the entire farm, as the latter, after July, will in- 
variably wander away to the distant fields and pick up the grain, seeds, etc., 
which are ripening about this time, having a greater variety of food than 
can be given them in close quarters. Two meals a day until frost are amply 
sufficient, the lightest, consisting of food most easily digested, being given 
at night, for if fed to depletion in the morning a fowl feels no need of exer- 
tion. Wheat, oats, rye, barley, and buckwheat are to be preferred rather 
than Indian corn; still, the latter has its place, which nothing else can fill. 
Milk is especially acceptable at this time, and if the flock enjoys a good 
range insects will take the place of meat, except, of course, the refuse from 
the family table, which, together with the stale bread and spare vege- 
tables, whether cooked or uncooked, should be regarded as their special 
perquisites all the year round. Many of our best fanciers of to-day claim 
that the loss of many hens at moulting season is unavoidable, but it is simply 
an acknowledgment of their inability to care for them properly. The process 
of feather-making is very exhausting, and hot weather renders disease more 
prevalent, but, if proper sanitary precautions be strictly enforced, the flock 
may be kept just as healthy, if not as handsome-looking, as at any other 
season. It would be well at this time to state that one of the best precau- 
tions to take would be to remove from your poultry houses the nests, 
roosts, and all other fixtures preparatory to a cleansing. Then commence 



POULTRY AS A SOURCE OF PROFIT. 29 

by fumigation, closing all the cracks in the house. Buy about five cents' 
worth of flour of sulphur, put it in a tin pan, and light it. Then go 
out, leaving the entire house closed up for about three or four hours. 
This will kill every insect in the house. After this whitewash it thor- 
oughly from one end to the other, adding carbolic acid to the wash, 
going in every crevice. Before putting back the nests and roosts take a 
clean whitewash brush and go over every part with coal oil, saturating them 
thoroughly. Then light each piece separately, when the oil will burn 
off, leaving the roosts and nests in a perfectly clean condition without 
injuring the wood. Care must be used, however, not to do this near the 
barn or in any place where it may ignite with some other buildings. After 
cleansing the houses thoroughly get a barrel or so of good road dust and 
scatter the dust thoroughly from one end to the other of the houses, leaving 
quite a large box in one corner for the hens to take their dust baths in. 
They will readily free themselves from lice in this way, and you will find 
your houses and fowls perfectly clean in every particular. Powdered sulphur 
and tobacco stems ground fine together and added to the dust will be found 
a valuable ingredient in freeing the hens from lice. When the flock is in 
good condition before moulting begins, inspect the hens carefully and see if 
there are any among them to which you would be unwilling to accord a 
three months' credit of food and attention, trusting them to balance the 
account by future &g<g production. Those fat, waddling old hens, which 
were kept over last spring because they were such good setters and mothers, 
you know will never repay you if allowed to get that deep in your debt. So 
be hard-hearted for once and dispose of all except those that are )"oung, 
spry, and energetic-looking. They are the ones that will moult without any 
trouble and pay their way, too, with an egg now and then. Besides, the 
early hatched pullets will be coming pretty soon, and it is the law of nature 
that the old shall give place to the young. 



POULTRY AS A SOURCE OF PROFIT. 

That poultry and eggs are always in demand is shown by the fact that we 
do not produce enough for home consumption, importing them in thousands 
of dozens which we cannot supply ourselves. That the poultry market may 
be overstocked is feared by many who contemplate making poultry a matter 
of profit. It requires but a few minutes' thought to dispel such a fallacy, as 
many of our oldest poultr}-men can recollect the time when the turkeys were 
driven to market on the roads and hundreds of baskets of eggs were carried 
to the cities in wagons. As soon as the railroads penetrated in every direc- 
tion the prediction was that the demand would be far below the supply. 
The prices, however, to the surprise of those who had so predicted, ad^'anced. 
Although the facilities of the present day are sufficient to bring into the 
market eggs from every section of the country, however remote ; the fact 



30 THE POULTRY YARD. 

stands forth that the prices during all seasons are nearly three times as high 
as they were previous to the increased facilities. We do not ask you to take 
our own words for this, but look back yourself and verify our statement. 
The product of carcasses and eggs is ten times greater, while the expense of 
marketing is much less. Yet the demand cannot be supplied, and Europe is 
annually called upon to send over a portion of her stock on hand in order 
to help us out. As long as there are plenty of eggs and poultry in the mar- 
ket buyers will have them and, granting by some possibility there may be 
an over production in quantity, there will still be a demand for quality, and 
the poultryman who markets only the plump, fat carcasses and sends only 
perfectly fresh eggs to his customers will always find himself besieged for 
more while others are begging for sales. 



THE CAPITAL REQUIRED. 

Among the many inquiries made regarding the matter of raising poultry 
in large numbers is, " How much capital is required ?" If the inquirer will 
but compare the poultry business with any other, a little reflection will 
enable him to unravel for himself whatever mystery may be attached to it. 
If $1000 be invested in a mercantile pursuit, the interest on capital invested, 
at six per cent., amounts to $60, and a dividend of ten per cent, will give 
^100, or a total of $160 on an investment of |iooo. It is conceded that a 
return of $t6o on a capital of $1000 every year is an excellent one, and 
why not take the same view of the poultry business? We are safe in assert- 
ing that $160 can easily be made on $1000 invested in poultry, and even 
more ; but the above is given to show that the beginner does not fail simply 
because he cannot secure several hundred dollars on a small investment. 
The poultry business will give as large returns as any other, in proportion 
to capital invested, provided proper care and management is bestowed. 
The difficulty with most persons is that they expect too much. They are 
not disposed to take a business view of the matter, but desire the poultry 
business to do what they would not for a moment expect from any other, 
which is a return of the capital in one season. We have often had parties 
ask if they could maintain a family with the poultry business on an 
investment of a few hundred dollars, something which they would not hope 
for in any other enterprise. 

Five cents per pound will cover the expense of raising chicks to the age 
of three months. That is for the feed ; but we must also consider that, in 
order to hatch and raise a brood of chicks, there is the value of the eggs from 
which the chick is produced, the interest on capital invested in quarters, 
fences, etc., and the labor of caring for the fowls. The larger the number 
of chicks raised the smaller the expense proportionately, as but little more 
care and labor is required for a large number than for a smaller. In one lot 
of 3000 chicks on a farm in New Jersey, a strict account of all the expenses 



BREEDING FOR MARKET. 31 

developed the fact that while but five cents was required for producing a 
pound of poultry, the total cost for buildings, labor, feed, and interest was 
nine cents. This sum may be safely estimated as the maximum cost of pro- 
ducing a pound of poultry, but it may be reduced or increased in proportion 
to the number raised ; the larger the number, as we stated before, the smaller 
the expense for each chick. The expense for food will not be diminished 
or increased, but the buildings, fences, and labor will fluctuate in value 
according to the number. 

It has been estimated that the cost of the quarters amounts to about one 
dollar per head, or, rather, that it requires about %\o to build a house for 
ten fowls, and $ioo for a house for one hundred fowls, but it is apparent 
that the larger the house the cheaper the cost proportionately, while so far 
as the labor is concerned, one can as easily feed one hundred fowls as ten, 
and also keep the quarters clean more economically as compared with the 
fewer number. Yet, in the face of these advantages in favor of the keeping 
of poultry in large numbers, the general result heretofore has been that the 
smaller the number the larger the profit, a result entirely at variance with 
the rules applying to all other industries. This can only be accounted for 
on the supposition that the small flocks receive more attention than the large 
ones, and it is probably the solution of the problem. Those who have a few 
fowls only are careful to feed them a variety, and the quarters are made as 
comfortable as possible, not a day passing by that some member of the 
family does not assist in caring for the fowls, while larger numbers are often 
overlooked, and many of the essential details neglected. 

The cost, of course, depends upon the labor, but with a small flock there 
is a bestowal of labor which is not valued, being performed by children and 
ladies as a source of pleasure, but which would be considered as an impor- 
tant item in an account kept with a large flock. That nine cents will cover 
all the cost is a fair estimate, and it leaves a large margin for profit if the 
chicks are hatched early and advantage be taken of high prices. Even if 
only 12 cents per pound be realized the profit is 33-|- per cent., which is 
much larger than may be expected from many other sources. 



BREEDING FOR HARKET. 

While it is admitted that the markings and plumage of a bird is an index 
to its purity, yet we often see the sacrificing of some of the best in the flock 
because of a slight defect that does no injury, but which serves as a disquali- 
fication in the show-room. This practice has been very damaging to the 
value of the breeds for utility, as the plumage in no manner affects the laying 
qualities or adds to the attractiveness of the fowls for market. And yet, 
without a strict adherence to some definite rule by which the breeders of 
thoroughbred poultry can be guided, our flocks would degenerate into dung- 
hills and their characteristics as breeds be entirelv lost. But there is a limit 



32 THE POULTRY YARD. 

even to the fixed outward indications, and when once the desirable object 
has been attained of giving them a uniform exterior, the more important 
essentials should not be overlooked. Poultry is destined to serve a greater 
purpose than that of being petted. The majority of those interested have 
no inclination to devote their time to the breeding of beautiful birds 
only, but prefer to realize a profit from carcasses and eggs ; and hence any 
attempt to sacrifice vigor and strength in order to secure a straight comb or 
a certain shade of color will in the end prove detrimental. This is proved 
already from the fact that while the fancy breeders have been more exacting 
in their standard requirements than any other class, yet they have not suc- 
ceeded in securing a flock of uniform show birds from the best of their prize- 
winners, while the Berkshire swine breeders, who give but few points to color 
marks, have only a small number of culls in their herds. 

The farmers who raise poultry for market, however, owe much to the 
breeders of fancy poultry, for despite all mistakes they may have made, they 
have preserved the purity of the breeds, and as their standard is only in its 
infancy, the time will come when all the breeds will combine not only the 
characteristics of utility, but convey also the outward evidences of the purity 
of the stock. 

Select those that come up to the standard in points, if you can, but do 
not discard a good specimen of robust constitution for a slight defect. Be 
liberal in allowing a few fowls to have drawbacks if such imperfections are 
such as to cause no injury to the offspring, but, above all, select for vigor and 
strength. It is not always the largest fowl that is the most vigorous, but the 
one with full, bright eyes, heavy bone, compact body, and quick movement. 
In plumage see that the color of the hens harmonizes with the color of the 
cock. If the hens are too dark, allow the cock to be somewhat lighter, and 
if the hens are very heavy in the body, use a medium-size cock. Too much 
weight is not desirable in fowls, although many boast of weight in preference 
to other qualities. The chief objects, no matter which breed is used, should 
be vigor and activity. An overgrown, excessively fat fowl is a nuisance, and 
should not be tolerated. 

BREEDING FOR EGGS. 

To keep hens for laying purposes, where eggs for market only are desired, 
is a different matter from keeping hens to provide eggs for hatching pur- 
poses. It may safely be said that for market purposes, laying, and hatching 
the conditions vary. It is a well-known principle in breeding, that the 
female must be in a i)roper condition to become fruitful, and this rule 
applies to the hen as well as to the animal. The fat Shorthorn cows are 
often barren, while those that produce large quantities of milk and butter, 
such as the Jerseys, Holsteins, and Ayrshires, usually bear calves every year, 
as the production of milk prevents overfatting. In making up a pen for 
breeding purposes, therefore, the poultryman must consider two or three 



BREEDING FOR EGGS. 33 

points that must be observed in order to secure good hatches when the eggs 
are incubated. In the first place, the eggs from pullets do not hatch as well 
as those from hens, unless the pullets are early hatched. This difficulty may 
be overcome somewhat, however, by mating two-year old cocks with them. 
Again, while the cockerels may be used in the yards, they should always be 
mated with hens, and not pullets. The conditions to be observed are to 
feed a sufficiency of all that tends to provide the constituent elements of an 
tgg, without furnishing a superabundance. By feeding so that the hens 
must scratch, we bring them under the same conditions by which it is known 
that a mare kept at moderate work will produce abetter foal than the one 
kept standing in the stable and pampered. It is true, as has often been 
stated by those who sneer at improved breeds of poultry, that they are pam- 
pered too much, and especially is this true of breeding hens, as eggs from 
such do not hatch well, and when they do the chicks are weak and sickly. 
No amount of lime or oyster-shells will prevent soft-shelled eggs from hens 
over fed, while disease is liable to occur among them at any time. 

We often read of hens that lay 200 eggs a year, but such statements do 
more harm than good, by inducing the inexperienced to believe such to be 
a fact. Any one who is familiar at all with poultry knows that during the 
fall all hens undergo the process of moulting, or shedding of the feathers. 
This requires, usually, about three months, or 100 days. As there are only 
365 days in a year, we have 265 days left after deducting the moulting pe- 
riod. If a hen lays, regularly, an &gg every other day, she will lay 133 eggs, 
but she will probably lose three months more in hatching out her broods, 
and even if she is a non-sitter she will take a resting spell. As moulting is 
a heavy drain on the system, but few hens lay during that process, though 
there are exceptions, and where the number of eggs exceed one every two 
days, it will be found that a corresponding reduction occurs during some 
period of the year. While we admit that certain individual hens have been 
known to lay as many as 150, or even 175 eggs in a year, such cases are rare, 
and if one has a flock of twenty hens or more, he should he satisfied if there 
is an average of 100 eggs a year for the whole flock, or rather nine dozen. 
Four dozen out of the nine should realize thirty cents per dozen, three dozen 
should bring about twenty cents a dozen, and two dozen should realize fif- 
teen cents per dozen in this section, or an average of about twenty-three 
cents. Of course, this calculation may be wrong, but it will convey an idea 
of what may be expected. 

Many poultry raisers provide their fowls with warm quarters, and feed 
regularly and on a variety, but yet they get no eggs. Such cases are 
numerous, and we will endeavor to point out a remedy for the difficulty. 
We well know that if we keep a horse in a stable and feed him well he 
becomes restless and unhappy, and in order to keep him in good health he 
must be exercised. With fowls, the winter prevents foraging, and our kind 
readers go to the coops in the morning and give the hens a good, heavy 
3 



34 THE POULTRY YARD. 

feeding. The hens, being full, are satisfied, and have no inducement to 
ramble, consequently, do not take any exercise, and become too fat. The 
better plan is to get some chaff, cut straw, leaves, or even dirt, and place it 
where the hens can scratch in it. In the morning give the hens a mess of 
warm food, but only a little. Now throw some grain into the scratching 
heap, and make them work for the balance of their meal. Feed nothing but 
what they will have to work for. At night feed them all they will eat. The 
object is to keep the hens busy during the day, but let them go on the roost 
full. Hens that are compelled to work will lay better and keep in good 
health, while the eggs will produce stronger chicks. They should always 
have a warm mess early in the morning, especially in the winter, but the 
meal should be so given as to leave them somewhat hungry. Do not feed 
them at noon, except by putting their food in the scratching heap, and 
never give soft food in the scratching heap. In other words, keep them 
scratching for oats, wheat, seeds, and even for ground shells. Give no corn 
except at night, and give them their night's meal without making them 
scratch for it. 

THE GROWTH OF YOUNG CHICKS. 

Considerable discussion as to the growth of young fowls having reached 
us, we give here the result of careful experiments. 

The growth of chicks, as ascertained during a period of three months, was 
as follows, viz.: — 

The egg weighs 2 ounces. 

Chick newly hatched weighs lJ/( " 

" I week old weighs 2 " 

"2 " " 4 

"3 " " 6.^ " 

"4 " " 10 " 

"5 " " 14 

"6 " " i8j-< 

"7 " " 23-^ " 

"8 " " 28 

"9 " " 32 

"10 " " 36 " 

"II " " 41 " 

The chicks experimented with were Plymouth Rocks, though considerably 
mixed with other bloods. They were fed mostly on a mixture of bran, oat- 
meal, and corn meal, moistened with milk or water, and baked, sometimes 
merely cooked with boiling water. Whole wheat and skim milk cheese 
served as a variety during the first four weeks, and the cake was sometimes 
made richer by the addition of a little animal meal ("pulverized dried 
bone and meat "). Out of quite a large flock, not one chicken died from 
disease. They were fed very regularly three times a day, and all they would 
eat up clean. A flock which increased two pounds in weight a day con- 
sumed less than six pounds of corn meal, or its equivalent in other food, in 
twenty-four hours; and what vegetable and animal matter they could pick 



DISEASES. 35 

up, which, in spite of unlimited range, did not appear to be very much ; at 
least, they were always hungry when they came to their meals. From the 
above, you will see that the actual expense of making one pound of " spring 
chicken " was in this case not more than four cents. The market price in 
cities during July varied between twenty and twenty-eight cents. 

We might have grown those chicks still faster by giving them a greater 
variety of food, but did not attempt to force them. Or we might have 
grown them slower, but with less expense, had we made them shift for them- 
selves. There were no grasshoppers. 



DISEASES. 

Nearly all diseases may be traced to filth. How many leave the droppings 
until they accumulate in large heaps cannot be numbered. Some persons 
clean out the coops weekly, while others, by the use of absorbents, defer the 
work to longer periods. The safest course is to clean out the houses and 
coops daily, as is done with the stables. It is not at all surprising that so 
many persons do not regard poultry as profitable, as they do not attach that 
importance to the business it deserves. Any farmer who did not clean 
out his stables oftener than once a week or a month, no matter how much 
absorbent material he used, would soon find his stock falling off in condition 
or dying of disease, and yet, because the hens are no exception to the rule, 
the raising of poultry is regarded by such persons as unprofitable. Poultry 
diseases may be prevented by cleanliness, but not otherwise. The cholera 
and roup may be cured a dozen times, but unless the houses and runs are 
kept clean, such diseases will appear as regularly as the periods of the moon. 

Poultry is a profitable business, but not under unfavorable conditions. 

On old farms, where the hens have had the run of the farmyard for years, 
there is gradually accumulated a certain amount of decomposed matter from 
the droppings, which is not distinguishable from the dirt with which it is 
mixed. This condition is the cause of gapes in chicks and cholera in 
adults, as has been repeatedly proved by those who have tried the experi- 
ment of feeding chicks on board floors, by which means the gapes were 
avoided. We do not allude to yards in which fowls are confined, but the 
farm yards, in which they are supposed to have plenty of room. Gapes and 
cholera are more prevalent in farmyards than in small yards used for con- 
fining fowls, for the reason that the small yards are frequently cleaned and 
turned up with the spade. If the farmyards could be occasionally scraped 
over, and then thoroughly sprinkled with a solution of chloride of lime or 
copperas, it would do much to prevent disease. What is better, is to mix 
an ounce of sulphuric acid with a bucket of water and sprinkle the yards, 
but it is not as easily handled as the chloride of lime or copperas water. A 
pound of chloride of lime to ten buckets of water or a pound of copperas to 
four buckets of water will answer the purpose. 



36 THE POULTRY YARD. 

ROUP, 
Including colds, canker, diphtheria, etc., is best prevented and often 
cured by the use of the celebrated Douglass mixture. This consists. of 

Sulphate of iron, /•2 lb. 

Sulphuric acid, i oz. 

Water, 2 gals. 

This is to be added to the drinking water in the proportion of a tablespoon- 
ful to a pint. Fowls affected by the Roup should be separated and put in 
dry, warm quarters. The head and nostrils should be well washed with 
warm water, and also with warm alum water. Give daily half a grain 
Cayenne pepper with half a grain allspice, in a bolus of meal. 

GAPES. 

If treated early, a small pill of camphor daily, and also a little camphor 
in the drinking water, is recommended. When fully developed, the worms 
should be removed from the windpipe by inserting a loop of horse hair into 
the organ and withdrawing it while turning it around. Repeat the opera- 
tion until all the worms are removed. 

GENERAL DEBILITY. 
For general debility, bad moulting, etc., use stimulating food, with sul- 
phate of iron or Douglass mixture in the water. If the fovv'ls are in general 
affected with the disease, especially in the case of Catarrh and Roup, it is 
an excellent plan to thoroughly fumigate the poultry house with sulphur. 
To do this, close the doors and windows, and burn a small quantity on a 
shovel. In many such cases the following prescription will be found valu- 
able. It was given to us by a doctor fancier some five years ago, who 
recommends it as very successful in most cases of disease among the 

chickens : — 

Pulv. capsicum, ) , , . 

,, , ,, • > each SO grains. 

1 ulv. allspice, J -' *= 

Diluted carbolic acid, 2 scruples. 

To form into a mass, add syrup and flour, or powdered gum arable. To 
form into pills, loo of )4 gr. each. 

One pill three times a day, or alternate with boluses, as below : — 

Pulv. charcoal and yeast, 200 grains. 

Flour sulphur, 150 grains. 

Syrup of Hour, 2 scruples. 

To form into a mass, which make into 100 boluses of 5^ grains each. One 
three times a day. 

With Roup, give also three or four drops diluted carbolic acid, washing 
out nostrils with Castile water, and inject some of the acid into the nose. 



DISEASES. 37 

CROP BOUND. 

The following is recommended : — 

Warm water should be forced down the throat, and the crop gently 
kneaded or worked for an hour, if necessary, until it becomes soft, holding 
the bill open and the head down ; then give a tablespoonful of castor oil, 
and feed sparingly for a day or two, to prevent permanent distention. If 
this is not effective, an incision about an inch long should be made at the 
top of the crop, first removing some of the feathers, and care being taken 
not to cut any of the large blood-vessels. The contents of the crop should 
then be removed and the outlet examined, to see that it is not stopped up. 
The incision may be closed by making three or four stitches, with horse hair 
or silk, in the inner skin, and the same in the outer. Be careful not to sew 
the two skins together, as it is almost certainly fatal. Feed on sopped bread, 
and allow no water for twenty-four hours after the operation. 

STRAINED HIP JOINT. 

A customer of ours, and for many years a practical breeder, has called 
our attention to a common ailment in fowls, which we believe has never 
before been noticed by any writer on poultry. Especially in the large 
breeds, where the cock is heavy, good laying hens, after two years old, 
often become so strained and weak in the hip joints that they slide out of 
position, letting the body fall very near the ground, and making the hen 
walk like a duck. The cock, seeing the hen in this position, naturally 
thinks she is courting his attentions, and the weakened hen is thus very 
much injured. The remedy is simple, and the cure nearly always complete. 
Tie the two legs together by a string around each at the hip joints, a little 
nearer than they would be when the bird was standing naturally. They must 
be tied back of the breast bone, so that they cannot slip out of position. 
The hen will soon learn to walk, although not so rapidly, using her hock 
joints, and in a few weeks she will have recovered the full and perfect use 
of her limbs. 

CHOLERA. 

This is a summer disease. What Roup is to the winter, Cholera is to the 
summer. It is a parasitic disease rising from the rapid multiplication of a 
minute parasite that destroys vitality by preying upon the fowls, as the para- 
sites pass wherever the blood reaches, the liver being the principal point of 
attack. To cure it we must destroy the parasites, and while there are plenty 
of remedies, they are too severe, endangering the life of the fowl. Sulphur 
is the agent by which all diseases may be avoided or cured, but sulphur is 
insoluble. The fumes of sulphur can be collected in water, which absorbs 
it, and administered ; but we can give sulphur gas in another shape. 
Hyposulphite of soda is a compound of soda, sulphur, and sulphur gas. It 
is harmless, is solid, and easily given. It acts as a cathartic, and not only 



38 THE POULTRY YARD. 

destroys the parasites, but compels them to pass off. With Cholera, the fowl 
is weakened and debilitated, and care must be observed not to kill it in the 
endeavor to cure it. 

The first thing to do is to give a teaspoonful of hyposulphite of soda, for- 
cing it, slightly moistened, down the throat of the fowl. An hour afterward 
give a grain each of powdered mandrake, red pepper, ground ginger, and 
copperas. Each substance should be finely pulverized, mixed with a little 
starch or corn meal, moistened, and administered. Place the sick fowl in a 
quiet place, give plenty of cool water, and leave it until well enough to eat. 
Then feed on cooked food for a few days, and it will most likely be all right. 
The symptoms are a nervous, anxious look, drooping spirits, great thirst, 
and pale or black comb. It comes from filth. 

LEG WEAKNESS. 

Somehow or other we have received a great many inquiries relating to leg 
weakness, and the inquirers nearly all state their complaints in this manner : — 

"Several of my chicks move about on their knees, and cannot stand on 
their legs. \ feed well, and give them every attention." Leg-weakness is 
occasioned by very high feeding. It is not dangerous nor does it indicate 
that there is anything wrong with the chicks. It means that they have been 
forced, and that the increase of strength does not correspond with the 
growth of the body. A deficiency of phosphate or of lime in the food, 
which is the bone-forming material, will cause leg weakness, especially if 
the food is rich in nitrogen, or flesh-forming material. Carbon is the fat- 
forming substance, and is useless to a growing chick unless it is intended for 
market. Sometimes, however, the leg weakness is really a slight attack of 
rheumatism, especially if the weather is damp, but it comes from the same 
cause — forced growth. No alarm need be entertained, for the chicks gen- 
erally come up again, unless the food fed is largely deficient in some respects. 

How to avoid and cure leg weakness is to feed judiciously. Plenty of 
meat, which is usually given with scraps from the table, is just the material 
that pushes the chicks rapidly forward, but meat contains very little of the 
phosphates. Wheat, of course, contains it, but it is not sufficient when the 
growth of the chicks is very rapid. Corn is injurious at such a time. But 
if we will add a substance that supplies the deficiency, we can then feed 
anything desired. Such a substance is ground bone. With ground bone 
and pounded oyster shells the chicks will be fully equipped to ward off leg 
weakness, and but very little trouble will ensue on such a system. 

There is one other cause, however, which is a deficiency of green food. 
Highly-concentrated food given at every meal is too stimulating, and if 
grass, boiled potatoes, turnips, or any kind of vegetables are fed, it will be 
better than feeding too exclusively on the scrap diet. In cold weather the 
green food may be given, if preferred, in the shape of finely cut clover hay, 
steeped in hot water and fed warm. In fact, any kind of hay will serve such 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 39 

a purpose if it is cut into short lengths and steeped. Always give a little 
salt in the soft food. It is as necessary for fowls as for cows or other stock. 
A little red pepper once in a while is also good, but do not feed it daily, 
as is often suggested. 

LICE. 
It is sometimes an easy matter to get rid of lice on fowls, but the poultry 
house is not so easily managed. During June the lice will be active and 
increase rapidly. It is no use to attempt to rid the fowls of lice until the 
premises are thoroughly cleaned, as such labor is lost. If the houses are 
kept clean, the hens will, with the use of the dust bath, clean themselves. 
To rid the house of lice, first remove all filth from the roosts, floors, walls, 
and nests. Scrub the roosts with coal oil, not overlooking a single spot. 
Take the nests outside, clean them out, and with a white-wash brush apply a 
light coating of coal oil to them, inside and outside. Now touch a lighted 
match to the nest boxes and let them burn. No damage will be done, as the 
oil will be quickly consumed, but such work should not be done inside the 
houses. Now make a bucket of whitewash, and add to it an ounce of liquid 
carbolic acid and a pint of tobacco water, which may be made by pouring 
boiling water over tobacco refuse, and allowing the water to remain over 
night with the tobacco. Apply the whitewash profusely, and dust Dalma- 
tian insect powder through the feathers of the hens, holding them by the legs 
for that purpose. Do not use grease on little chicks. Dalmatian insect 
powder will remove lice from them. Little's Chemical Fluid is an excellent 
article to use in the place of carbolic acid, it being efficacious and non- 
poisonous. 

VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 

SHERWOODS. 
The Best General Putpose Fowl Ever Introduced. 

This new breed of fowls is so called from the Virginia plantation of Mr. 
Timberlake, where they originated from crosses first made some forty years 
ago. About 1850 there were introduced among the stock bred on this farm 
some pure White Games from Georgia. During the period of twenty years 
these White Games and their progeny were allowed to run at liberty on the 
farm, intercrossing with the stock of Cochin Chinas and Light Brahmas. 
The Game cocks being more courageous than the Cochins and Brahmas, the 
cocks of the latter breeds were after some years entirely removed. In suc- 
ceeding years the white cocks from these crosses were selected for breeding 
by Mr. Timberlake's mother, who was a very practical poultry raiser. At the 
time of her death, some twenty years ago, Mr. Timberlake began selecting 
the fowls with a view of fixing their characteristics in an established breed. 

The Sherwood derives from its Light Brahma or Asiatic parentage a heavy 
body, but is shorter in leg, while also deriving from the Game parentage 



40 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



fuller breasts. They are very stylish birds ; majestic in carriage, with close, 
compact bodies; yellow bills; beautiful, erect combs of medium size; bright 
red ear lobes, and white plumage, with yellow legs lightly feathered to the 
outside toe. 

They endure the cold weather better than the Asiatics or other fowls of 
equal size ; the young chicks are also very hardy, the damp weather seeming 
to have no effect on them. They grow rapidly, mature early, and are fit for 
broilers at the age of twelve to fourteen weeks; they are of excellent quality 




for table use. The Sherwoods are very careful and attentive mothers, yet 
gentle and tractable to handle. They are very prolific egg producers, and 
the eggs are of large size and fine flavor and good quality. They are of 
good size, the cocks weighing 9 to lo pounds and the hens 7 to 8 pounds 
each. 

Sherwoods are now being exclusively introduced by us. We will be 
pleased to have intending purchasers inspect our yards at Fordhook Farm. 
To those at a distance would say that the illustration above conveys a fair 
idea of their appearance, having been engraved from a photograph. 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 



41 



BRAIIMAS. 
No breed of pure-bred poultry, from the days of the hen fever to the present, 
have so universally maintained a front rank in the estimation of all poultry 
men as the Brahmas. They are quiet in their disposition and very tame. 
Our late lamented Brahma cock, "Joe Hooker," was almost as affectionate 
and knowing as a dog. He would come into the kitchen at meal times, and 
would quietly walk around and eat out of the hand what was given him, but 
never would he eat anything within his reach that was not set aside for him. 
Brahmas can easily be picked up anywhere by a child. A three-foot fence 
will confine them, and no breed in the world is so well adapted to close 




Light and Dark Brahmas. 



confinement. They thrive well in the smallest quarters. They are excellent 
winter layers ; their eggs are of varied shades. That pure Brahmas should 
lay eggs of one uniform color is an exploded bubble. They are very much 
inclined to sit, and this is a great drawback. They do not mature early, 
and are not so desirable for spring market pure bred as when crossed. 

They have plenty of loose fluff, and will cover a goodly number of eggs. 
They should be of large size, but not giants. The days of the "long-legged 
Shanghai, that could eat off the top of a barrel, and all there is in it," is 
past. Farmers and poulterers are beginning to realize that utility of form 
must be studied. It needs no demonstration to prove that it is highly 
unprofitable to feed corn and wheat to produce such unpalatable parts as neck 
and leg. Matured cocks of 12 pounds, and hens of 8 to 10 pounds are fully 



42 THE POULTRY YARD. 

as large as can generally be had in connection with other meritorious points. 
One peculiarity of this breed is the pea comb, which, being so small, is safe 
against the winter's frosts. 

Light Brahmas. — While Light Brahmas do not appear to be as large 
as Cochins they are in reality one pound heavier, by standard requirements ; 
this may be accounted for by the loose feathering or plumage of the Cochins. 
From their first introduction into this country they have steadily gained in 
public favor. One reason of their popularity is probably found in their 
general appearance. The white -plumage of the body is relieved by the 
brilliant black markings of the hackle, saddle, wings, and tail. This black, 
when intense in hue (which it should be), makes a sharp contrast with the 
pure white of the body. They are splendid winter layers, producing the 
greatest abundance of fine, large eggs, when other breeds have " gone into 
winter quarters." They are extremely docile, bear confinement well, and 
are easily enclosed by a very low fence. 

Dark Brahmas. — Very similar to the Light Brahma, being nearly as 
large and of the same form. They are early layers in the winter, hardy, and 
the chicks mature rapidly. They have very beautiful dark plumage. In the 
cock, hackle silvery white ; striped with black and white feathers on the 
head ; back almost white ; the saddle feathers white striped with black ; the 
tail feathers pure black ; the breast is solid black. In the hen the hackle is 
striped with black ; on the body each feather is closely penciled with dark, 
steel gray. 

RED CAPS. 

From their hardiness and wonderful prolificacy as egg producers, the Red 
Caps deserve all that has been said in their favor. Until recently the Red 
Caps were almost entirely confined to Yorkshire and Derbyshire, England, 
where they have been prized as a favorite breed for many years. Since our 
first importations, they have been steadily gaining in popular favor, until at 
present there is scarcely a show held without a class for Red Caps. They 
are non-sitters, but as layers are unsurpassed by any other pure breed. The 
eggs are white or tinted, of medium size, averaging two ounces, and are 
noted for being very rich-flavored. Good hens will sometimes lay upward 
of 200 eggs in a year. 

The Red Caps have been admitted to the Standard, and are described 
about as follows : — 

Cock. — Head short and deep; beak dark horn color; face bright red; 
comb, rose, placed firmly on the head, top full of small points with straight 
spike behind. Ear lobes and wattles red, of medium size. Neck rather 
long with abundant hackle falling well over the back; color dark golden 
red, each feather striped with black through the center. Back of medium 
length, sloping toward the tail, color black and rich red, saddle feathers 
long and sweeping, of a deep, rich red striped with black. Breast dark 
purplish black, under part of body dull black. Wings, bows deep, rich, nut 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 



43 



brown, each feather tipped with a bluish black spangle ; coverts the same, 
only the spangle extends further down, forming a solid black wing-bar. 
Tail black, sickles with rich greenish reflections. Legs black, and shank 
leaden blue. 

Hen. — Head small and neat, beak well curved, 
of light horn color ; face bright red ; comb smaller 
than in the cock, but otherwise the same ; ear lobes 
and wattles red. Back rich brown, each feather- 
tipped with bluish black, speckled. Brea--t iich 
nut brown and speckled; under part of the l)od\ 




Pair Derbyshire Red Caps. 



lighter in color. Legs light brown, shanks and feet leaden blue. Tail 
long, pointed, and full. Cock should weigh 7 pounds, hens 534 pounds; 
cockerel 6 pounds, pullet 4^^ pounds. 

The Red Caps are non-sitters and are one of the very best crosses for 
producing good layers. For this purpose the Red Cap cock should be mated 
with Brahma, Cochin, Plymouth Rock, or Langshan hens. 



44 



THE POULTRY YARD. 




PAIR OF WHITE COCHINS. 



COCHINS. 

Cochins are large, noble-looking fowls, with an abundance of loose, fluffy 
feathers, especially in the hens, thus making them the very best mothers. 

Mature cocks should weigh lo to 13 
pounds, and hens <S to 10 pounds; 
small weights should not be toler- 
ated, neither should extra heavy 
birds be bred, if, as is generally the 
case, they are correspondingly badly 
proportioned. The legs should be 
abundantly feathered to the toes, 
but not "vulture-hocked." They 
are very docile, can be picked up 
by a child, and are easily confined. 
They are rather poor foragers, and 
must be fed liberally. They are 
good winter layers. Their eggs are 
of various shades. They are very 
much inclined to sit and hard 
to break. On account of their large size they are invaluable for crossing, 
whereby they can be improved in early maturity and flesh. They have 
single, erect combs, of fine texture. Recently a strain of Pea Comb Par- 
tridge Cochins has been introduced, and it is claimed for them that 
they can better withstand cold winters. We fear, however, that should this 
variety become popular, the distinct types of Brahmas and Cochins would be 
lost — merged into one common mixture. Cochins have so long been bred 
almost exclusively for large size and fashionable form and markings, that the 
economic qualities have been neglected. Much can be done in the -way of 
improving their laying, etc. The varieties are the Buff, Partridge, Black 
and White Cochins. 

Buff Cochins. — The great fault which beset this breed originally (the 
constant appearance of dark feathers) has been overcome at last ; by careful 
mating and breeding they have reached that state of perfection where the 
fancier has comparatively little trouble in breeding them to feather. 

Their handsome golden buff color, fine form, and stylish carriage win 
admiration everywhere. Their plumage is of a clear, beautiful shade 
throughout ; the neck, saddle, hackle, and tail-coverts being of a darker 
and richer shade in the cock, and the hackle of the hen being the same 
shade as the male bird. They are large, fine birds ; the cock should weigh 
from 9 to 1 1 pounds at one year. Both cocks and hens should be loose 
feathered, and thus appear much larger than they really are. Hens should 
weigh from 8 to 9 pounds at one year old. Cochins will thrive well in the 
smaller yards, and under such unfavorable circumstances as to preclude the 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 



45 



successful rearing of other fancy breeds. They are good winter layers and 
make careful mothers. 

Partridge Cochins are very aristocratic, with the deep black breast and 
beautifully resplendent and varied plumage of the cock, and the exquisitely 
penciled hen. For small city yards a more pleasing breed could scarcely 




BUFF COCHIN'S 



be desired. White Cochins, being of a pure, snowy whiteness throughout, 
do not present the difficulties to the young breeder which are sure to be 
experienced in raising the other varieties of Cochins, and hence are one of 
the best varieties to start with. All Cochins possess the same prominent 
characteristics, and the amateur should select the varietv best suited to his 



46 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



fancy. Black Cochins were established about fifteen years ago and were 
supposed to be one of the coming breeds; but, not having as many good 




PARTRIDGE COCHINS. 



characteristics as the other varieties, soon fell in the background, and at 
present are almost extinct. 



LANGS HANS. 

The more Langshans are tried the better they are liked. A strong preju- 
dice existed against them on account of their dark legs, but as sensible 
people are reflecting that the legs are the most useless part of the fowl, as far 
as table purposes are concerned, the breed is becoming more popular. The 
Langshan is a large fowl, nearly as large as the Brahma, and yet the pullets 
lay exceedingly early, in fact, some claim they lay as early as the Leghorn, 
nor is this all, for they will lay as steadily, after they begin, as other fowls. 
Major Croad, the original breeder, said, "A pullet I once bred I can say 
with certainty commenced laying a fortnight before Christmas, and laid 147 
eggs without interruption." For table use they are fine. The flesh is cross- 
grained and tender, dresses white, and the body is full, compact, and nice 
looking. For crossing purposes they impress themselves very strongly and 
make a good cross with any breed. Their plumage, carriage, and form are 
simply magnificent. The lustre of the black plumage is heightened by a 
greenish cast, which adds a polish and brilliancy unsurpassed. They have 
bright red single combs. The beak and legs are dark, with flesh-colored 
variations along the lines of the mouth and lower part of toes and sole of 
foot; eye dark; ear lobes and wattles bright red; tail full and flowing, car- 
ried rather high and forward, and furnished with good-sized sickles. It is 
difficult to breed these birds without the reddish feathers which make their 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 47 

appearance in the breast, often from the very best strains. The Langshans 







ADOPTED &f thfc 



are very prolific and mature early. Although not given to being broody, 
they are good sitters and excellent mothers. 



LEGHORNS. 
Of late years Leghorns have attained a wonderful popularity. And well 
deserved it is, too. They are without doubt the best layers. They are 
non-sitters, although, as in all non-sitting varieties, a hen will occasionally 
take a notion toward incubation, and will often perform her unaccustomed 
duties very satisfactorily. Leghorns lay as many as 200 and even 250 eggs 
per year. The pullets begin to lay at 4)4 and 5 months. The cockerels 
will crow at 7 weeks old, and a very amusing sight it is to see a large 
flock of chicks at this age. They very soon learn to run after the hens. 
From the very eggs, almost before "their mother knows they are out," 
they are the liveliest of all chicks. They are splendid foragers, and after 
eight weeks old they generally pick up all their own food among the 



48 THE POULTRY YARD. 

wheat stubble, around the barn, etc. The eggs are pure white, rather thin 
shell, and nearly transparent. They are not a large breed, but where eggs 
are desired are all the more j^rolitable on that account ; /. e., with less 
machinery to feed, they will shell out larger results than any other breed. 
The cocks weigh 4^^ to 6 pounds, and the hens 3^ to 4 pounds. They 
are very hardy and easily raised. For market, although not large, they are 
very presentable, with bright yellow legs and skin. They have high single 
combs, which in this climate are apt to get frozen in winter. This spoils 
their looks, but does not hurt their breeding qualities. No breed will so 
improve the laying qualities of barnyard fowls as Pure Leghorns. A cross 
of a White Leghorn cock on Light Brahma hens makes excellent farm 
chickens, early matured, good size, fine quality of flesh, and excellent 
layers. 

White Leghorns were the first introduced, and are the most generally 
disseminated. They should be pure snowy white throughout, and entirely 
free from any colored feathers or a shade of yellow. Their ear lobes should 
be solid white or creamy white, and in this particular good strains breed 
remarkably true. Their combs should be of medium size, perfectly erect 
and evenly formed, deeply serrated with five prominent points, wattles 
pendant, legs bright yellow, carriage proud and upright. 

Brown Leghorns are of more recent introduction, but are already the 
most popular. They are very beautiful, resembling the Black Red Games 
in plumage, and from their fighting qualities we have reason to believe they 
contain some game blood. We well remember our first experience with 
them. We had three favorite cocks, two of which were placed on one 
farm until one should be mated to another lot of hens. No sooner had 
they escaped from their respective cages than a terrible fight ensued, and 
before they could be separated one was killed. The Brown Leghorns are 
shorter in the legs and rather heavier bodied than the whites. They have 
bright yellow legs and skin, and are very palatable as table fowls. They 
are excelled by none as layers. One hen owned by a friend, who kept a 
careful record, in ten consecutive months of 1876 (including February, when 
she was rather " under the weather " — which, by-the-by, was very severe — 
and only laid eight eggs) laid 223 eggs. This hen was not selected, but was 
the only one the party owned of this breed. The following is the record : — 

First month, 23 ; second month, 8 ; third month, 22 ; fourth month, 28 ; 
fifth month, 27; sixth month, 26; seventh month, 24; eighth month, 24; 
ninth month, 23; tenth month, iS; total, 223. 

In England this breed is becoming very popular, although as yet quite 
rare. They are pre-eminently an American breed. We have exported 
them ourselves to England, as have also other breeders. L. Wright, in his 
English Book of Poultry, says, "We consider them the best layers we have 
ever met with.'" They have always been our own favorites, and wherever 
introduced they soon take the lead for eggs, on account of the immense 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 



49 



quantity and admirable quality of same. They have all the desirable 
qualities of this breed to a pre-eminent degree. We give below a letter 
received from a good breeder of this variety, which demonstrates an impor- 
tant fact. 

"I will write you a word about the standard as now given for Brown 
Leghorns. There is just one fault here : a solid white ear lobe and the 
plumage (standard) of this variety cannot consistently go together without 
white feathers being made allowable, or dark legs not a disqualification; but 



i»!i|IH«i««'«ijiii«''il)^iiUi|!Bji| 




CENTENNIAL PHIZE BRuWN LEGHORNS, BKED BY \V. ATLEE EUKPEE, PHILADELPHIA. 



white ear lobes — spotless white — and yellow legs cannot be made to breed ; 
it is altogether inconsistent with natural laws. 

" In a certain number of the Poultry World there appeared an article in 
which the writer stated that the original jungle fowls were nearly of the 
plumage of the Brown Leghorns, and some have willow legs, and some 
white ear lobes ; to prove, doubtless, that it was natural to have this white 
lobe. I inquired, in the succeeding number of the Poultry World, whether 
it was the yellow or dark-leg birds that had the white ear lobes, but have 
4 



50 THE POULTRY YARD. 

never learned ; there is too much trying to cover up the defects of the 
standard as given to Brown Leghorns. The most open confession I have 
ever seen is in an article in January 2 2d number. 

"I am now running a strain of Brown Leghorns, direct descendants of 
the W. F. B. S. crossed on natives, and find stamina much improved, and 
when I get them where I can rely on them, I will have a strain of Brown 
Leghorns that will not lose tail feathers in summer, nor give dark legs, but 
a type just to my own liking. I want lobes one-third surface white, no 
more. But by all means, Brother Burpee, insert in your book an open 
remonstrance against the wholesale slaughter of valuable points and desirable 

qualities just to cater to the wants of a few fanciers like , who had so 

much to do in compiling the standard, that he got in what has just ruined 
him, and I am glad of it. In the year 1875, i^ August or September, he 
had not 25 hens or cocks but were disqualified, on account of white feathers. 
I know this to be true, and am heartily glad of it." 

The writer of the above is only too true in his statements. Much has 
been done to injure the fair fame of the Brown Leghorns, by advertising 
solid white ear lobes, and sending out birds with nearly red lobes. Raising, 
as we do, hundreds of Brown Leghorns, from the most carefully mated 
stock, we every year raise birds that are throughout free from any white 
tinge, with bright yellow legs and solid white lobes, but they are scarce. 
We consider the Brown Leghorns as difficult a breed to handle, with a view 
to exhibition purposes, as the Dark Brahmas, and requiring equally as much 
skill. Hens with pure white ear lobes are easily produced from good strains. 
The trouble is with the cocks. If the majority of the cocks have ear lobes 
two-thirds white and about ten per cent, pure white, with no corresponding 
defects, it is as good as can be expected at present. "Truth will out," 
even if by letting it out we tread on some tender toes, yet it is our only true 
plan in writing for the poultry public. We regard the Brown Leghorns 
as too valuable a breed to be altered by crossing, or to be ruined in stamina 
and important excellencies by a mad rush after white ear lobes, "regardless 
of cost." In mating, always keep in view the one great quality that endears 
this breed to the people — the eggs. 

Black Leghorns. — These are solid black in plumage, with pure white 
ear lobes and erect combs. They, like all black fowls, usually have dark 
legs. They are the smallest of the Leghorns, and although good layers, are 
no better than the others. They look too much like degenerated black 
Spanish, and it is our opinion that, unless improved, they will soon sink into 
oblivion, as a variety not worthy of distinct cultivation. 

Dominique Leghorns. — These fowls are certainly very pretty, being of 
the uniform Dominique color, contrasting nicely with white ear lobes. The 
finest fowls we raised in 1876, and exhibited at the Centennial, were perfect 
as regards Leghorn characteristics and color, but had a few black spots over 
the yellow legs. We have had birds of this breed with pure yellow legs, but 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 51 

they were faulty in the ear lobes. This variety can never compete in 
popularity with the Brown and White Leghorns. Some breeders claim that 
they are the largest of all Leghorns, and we have purchased birds of such 
stock which were very large, too large for pure Leghorns, and plainly 
showing a cross, also having nearly or quite red ear lobes. We have 
consequently discontinued breeding them. 

Buff Leghorns. — The Buff Leghorn is growing in popularity every day. 
The color is very attractive, and those possessing a true, solid buff have 
something to be proud of. They are layers of a large, white &g%, are non- 
sitters, and possess a great many characteristics of the Browns, although we 
do not think they will ever supersede the Browns. The English idea as to 
color is orange, the cocks much darker than the hens. As yet it is hard to 
breed these birds true to color, as we have seen numerous specimens in the 
poultry shows during the year 1891 and cannot say that we saw a pure Buff 
male or female in the entire lot, but all having some dark feathers in their 
plumage. 

WYANDOTTES. 

The Fanciers' Journal g\^t% the following history of this fowl : — 

"There are many reasons given why the Wyandotte fowls are considered 
one of the best for general purposes. In the first place, it merits our 
admiration because it is distinctly an American breed — originated in this 
country ; second, it is just of the right weight for an admirable market fowl — 
from six to eight pounds when standard ; third, it is probably the best layer 
of all breeds that hatch, while not being a persistent hatcher ; fourth, it is as 
beautiful as any; fifth, it features quicker for broiler or market purposes 
than any of the so-called heavy breeds, and is an exceedingly hardy breeder 
to rear. More and interesting points in its favor might be cited. It kills 
yellow skinned, even when not fat — that is, if pure bred — carrying the fat in 
the interstices and under the meat, while most birds of other breeds place 
the adipose right beneath the skin. 

" Of late it has pushed its way to the front of all breeds in America and 
indisputably lays claim to first recognition. The barred Plymouth Rock was 
always considered the farmer's fowl of America, but the Wvandotte has the 
inside track at present, and its merits must by comparison place it per- 
manently in the winning position. 

" No more satisfactory argument goes to show its supremacy than tlie fact 
that of all the advertisers in the poultry journals, over ninety per cent, 
include the Wyandotte on their list of breeds. Even in England, the home 
of the Minorca and Dorking, the Wyandotte stands second. The order of 
popularity in this country stands as follows: Wyandotte, Plymouth Rocks, 
White Wyandotte, Light Brahma, Langshan, White Leghorn, Brown Leg- 
horn, White Plymouth Rocks, Games, and so on to the end of fifty-two differ- 
ent breeds. In consideration of these conclusive facts, we have no apology 



62 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



to make in favor of any breed to any one desirous of obtaining the best 
general utility fowl. Like all good breeds, the Wyandotte does not 
tolerate neglect. It requires steady care, and a knowledge of how to 
breed them pure and successfully, but if so bred it gets there in all de- 
partments of usefulness. 

" Then its name, aside from the many excellent qualifications it possesses, 
merits our admiration. Mr. F. A. Houdlette, than whom we have no better 
authority on this noble American breed, says this as to naming it : ' The 
breed originated near the shores of Lake Huron, in the vicinity of Detroit, 




TYPICAL WVANDIiTTE tclCK. 



and in that locality among the first to raise them was one of the first breeders 
of that time, though we don't hear so much of him to-day, Mr. Whitaker, 
of North Adams, who was well known through that section. I made up my 
mind that time that some of the Lidian names would be best. 

" 'Li looking up the different tribes that lived near and around the lakes, 
esi>ecially near Detroit, I found that the Hurons and Wyandottes occupied 
nearly all that territory. The Wyandottes were the noblest of the tribes. I 
adopted that name for my part, and intended to push it for all it was worth. 
When new names came up in 1S83, the Ambright Columbias and Wyandottes 
were presented. Suffice it to say that the Wyandotte was accepted, and. 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 



5$ 




perhaps, I have the honor to be the one who placed that name before the 
public' " 

White Wyandottes. — The well-deserved and almost unparalleled popu- 
larity of the Silver-laced Wyan- 
dottes promises to be fully equaled 
in this new candidate for public 
favor. Although of very recent 
origin, the White Wyandottes breed 
remarkably true. They resemble 
the Laced variety in form, shape, 
and general characteristics, but in 
plumage are a pure snow white. 
The bright red faces and ear lobes 
and rich yellow legs, contrasting 
with the fine form and white plum- 
age, make them a very handsome 
breed. They mature quickly, and 
their full -breasted, plump bodies, 
yellow skin and legs, will make 
them valuable as table fowls, while 

as egg producers they are probably only excelled by the Minorcas and Red 
Caps. They make good mothers, being kind and gentle, and are also good 
foragers. 

Golden Wyandottes. — This breed originated in Wisconsin by crossing 
the Winnebagoes on the Silver Wyandottes, and are described as follows : 
Head short and broad ; neck graceful, rich golden bay color with a clear 
black shaft running through the center of each feather to the extremity ; 
back, deep red bay in color ; saddle same color as neck ; breast, golden bay 
centers, web black, primaries black with bay edgings, secondaries black with 
lower part of web bay color, coverts black and golden bay with a narrow 
stripe along the edge which widens toward the tips and forms a double 
spangled bar across the wing; wing bows heavy bay, tail sickles glossy 
black, the smaller coverts black. The females have the same general shape 
of head, with a golden bay plumage ; neck a rich yellow with black stripes 
through the centers ; back shows small, rich, deep yellow centers evenly laced 
with black ; secondaries and coverts the same; tail, same as male. As a 
class, the Goldens stand high ; good layers, good sitters and mothers, and 
a fine table and market fowl. 



A PAIR OF WHITE WYANDOTTES. 



BLACK SPANISH. 

The White Face Black Spanish are one of the oldest pure breeds. They 

are everlasting layers of very large eggs, of excellent flavor. The yelk of the 

egg is not larger than of ordinary eggs, the white, or albumen, predominating. 

They are very hardy if properly bred, the only danger being from their 



54 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



large, erect, single combs, which will become frozen in very severe weather. 
They are very high in body, with fine, stylish carriage. Their legs are of a 
lead color, becoming lighter with age. Breeding in-and-in also produces 
pale legs, and then a cross should be made with a very bluish-black-legged 




PAIR OF WHITE FACED BLACK SPANISH. 



cock of fresh blood. Their white face and long, serrated comb, extending 
out almost to the end of the bill, are well depicted in the accompanying cut. 
They are very poor table fowls, but their fine eggs entitle them to a high 
rank among the breeds of domestic poultry. 



TLYMOUTII ROCKS. 
Plymouth Rocks, for a "general purpose breed," are unsurpassed, desir- 
able alike for eggs and early market chicks; while they neither lay as many 
eggs as the non-sitting breeds, nor attain the great size of the Asiatics, 
yet they most nearly combine the excellencies of each of these classes of 
fowls, and where one breed alone is kept, it would be hard to make a 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 



55 



more suitable selection. Their origin is generally believed to have been 
from a cross of the Black Java and American Dominique. Certain it is 
that they possess the good qualities of the latter, with increased size. Their 
plumage is an even Dominique color throughout, the cockerels being 
several shades lighter, have bright yellow legs, and are first-rate table fowls. 
Their many good points can scarcely be over-estimated. They are a 
"general purpose" breed, and are the best farmer's fowl, take them 
all-in-all, yet produced. They are remarkably hardy and healthy, excellent 
foragers, and are not high-flyers. The cocks weigh nine to eleven pounds 




PLYMOUTH ROCK COCK. 



and hens seven to nine pounds. Their plain, Quaker-like attire is a suitable 
every-day work dress, and even farmers, who have an inborn dislike to 
" fancy chickens," cannot but admit that the pure bred Plymouth Rocks 
are far ahead of any cross for farm stock. Every farmer will find a trio 
of the fowls a profitable investment, while fanciers will find no breed of 
fowls in so great demand. 

White Plymouth Rocks. — One could not conceive of a more handsome 
or appropriate companion for the well-known Plymouth Rocks than these 
"White Rocks." Competition ranges high between the new breeds — White 
Rocks, White Wyandottes, White Langshans, etc. — quite a struggle being 



56 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



carried on by their special advocates as to which shall be the "cock of the 
walk." The White Plymouth Rock is an offshoot or sport from the Barred 
variety and originated in Maine. They have advantages over their " colored 
cousins " in the matter of mating and breeding; and these advantages will 
be a great help to the young fancier, and also to those who are contemplating 
embarking in the poultry business, but who have heretofore dreaded breeding 
iancy fowls for sale and exhibition on account of the difficulties of judi- 
ciously mating them for such purposes. The "White Rocks" breed more 
true to color than any other of 
the new white varieties. Like 
their excellent progenitors, they 
are plump, compact, full- 
breasted-and-bodied fowls, vigor- 
ous and hardy ; they are good 




PAIR OF WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 



layers and handsome in appearance and carriage, showing well on the lawn 
or in the exhibition coop. Their bright red combs and heads contrast 
agreeably with their snow-white plumage. Having so many good charac- 
teristics and essential points of an ideal breed, it will be but a short time 
until they become widely known. 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 



57 



HAAIBURGS. 

Hamburgs are a very popular breed of non-sitting fowls. They are 
unrivaled in variety and beauty of plumage. Our illustration (prepared 
expressly for The Poultry Yard) well represents an imported trio of the 
Black Hamburgs, bred by the Rev. W. Sergeatson, the most celebrated 
English exhibitor of this variety. 

All Hamburgs possess the same general characteristics. Stylish and active 
in carriage, slender, rather short, blue or slaty-blue legs, with deep red rose 




BLACK HAMBURGS. 



combs and close-fitting, pure white ear lobes. They require free range, and 
are then easily kept, as they are excellent foragers. They will lay upward of 
200 eggs in a year. While their eggs are not so large as those of the Leg- 
horns, yet, as long as eggs are sold by the dozen this makes little material 
difference in supplying the market. Mr. A. Beldon says of their early 
maturity, he has found that pullets of the penciled varieties lay at five 
months ; the spangled not quite so early. The varieties of Hamburgs are 



58 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



the silver and golden penciled, the spangled and the solid black. The 
Blacks are the largest of all, and lay the largest eggs. They are also con- 
sidered the most hardy. A great fault with many Black Hamburgs is a 
tendency to white on the face. This should never be tolerated. The face 
must be one rich, deep red, like the wattles, contrasting strikingly with the 
pure white ear lobes. We have also seen fowls awarded a premium as Black 
Hamburgs that showed very plainly the carriage and form of the Black 
Spanish. 

GAMES. 

Games are generally familiar to every one, and are by many considered 
tlie fowls. Even those who rightly disapprove of the pit and its uses admire 
a really Dead Gatne Cock. No breed can equal them in true symmetry, 
elegance, and style, with fearless expression. They are light-feathered and 
all muscle. A Game fowl will weigh much heavier than it appears. Cocks 

of good size will weigh 6^ pounds, and 
hens 5 to 5!/^ pounds. Their flesh is 
unsurpassed, being the finest flavored of 
any breed of fowls. They are excellent 
layers of fine, rich eggs, much esteemed. 
The hens are the very best mothers, and 
will faithfully protect their young broods. 
They are easily reared, and are undoubt- 
edly a very profitable breed for economic 
purposes — the only drawback for domestic 
use being their fighting qualities. But 
these latter adding so to their beauty and 
elegance, besides the extra quality of 
their flesh, surely warrant a little extra 
trouble with the young stags. When the 
young stags are troublesome in fighting 
each other, they can be penned in small 
coops, arranged in tiers, and each one 
left out occasionally in a small yard to 
exercise. There is always a lively demand for pure Games of fine strains at 
very satisfactory prices, and they are consequently one of the most profitable 
fancy breeds. The varieties of Games are numerous ; our limited space 
does not permit a description of each. The most i)rominent are the Black- 
Breasted Red, Brown-Breasted Red, Duckwings, Derby, Piles, Sumatra, 
White, Henny Games and Indian Games. 

Indian Games. — No breed ever introduced has created such a furore 
among fanciers as the Indian Games, and they are bound to be of great 
value to the farm-poultry interests of the country. The illustration herewith 
was accurately drawn from a trio out of the two yards imported by us 
direct from Mr. Whitfield, by steamship "Minnesota," the shipment 




Black-Bkeastkd Red Game Stag. 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 



59 



of which to this country was favorably noted in the London Fancier s 
Gazette of March 21, 1890. 

The true Cornish Indian Game is a most attractive and stylish bird. 
Their beauty can hardly be described — the closeness and hardness of the 
plumage giving them a lustre seldom equaled, while their every movement 
is indicative of high breeding. The graceful outline and proud carriage 
of the cock (and hen as well) alwaj's excite admiration. 

While so pre-eminently a fowl for fancy, they cannot fail equally to 




IS^^tBOfM 



JEORDHOOK55' 



delight the poultry-farmer. As a superb table fowl they are unexcelled ; 
they have exceptionally broad, deep breasts and are heavily meated through- 
out. They are much weightier than their apparent size would indicate, 
cocks weighing 9)4 to 10^ pounds each and hens 6 to 7J.4 pounds each, 
when in ordinary breeding condition. Their flesh is of the finest quality, 
while they mature quickly and, consequently, will be invaluable for crossing. 
At the great Birmingham show of 1888 a couple of Indian Games carried 
off the prizes for the best exhibits in the dressed poultry section. An 



60 THE PO UL TR 1 ' YA R D. 

experiment in crossing an Indian Game cock on Partridge Cochin pullets 
resulted most satisfactorily. When only six months old the chicks were 
heavier than their mothers, full-meated, and with flesh of the most delicate 
color and delicious quality. 

They are moderate layers of large, l)rownish-white eggs. The hens 
make excellent mothers if allowed to sit, while they can readily be 
broken up in two or three days when inclined to sit, and it is a 
remarkable fact that they will then begin to lay again in about a week. 
The young chicks hatch out very uniform in size and markings ; they are 
very sprightly and extremely hardy, growing quickly and maturing early. 
They are very free from disease, have strong constitutions, and are easily 
raised. They are excellent foragers if allowed their liberty, and yet thrive 
splendidly in confinement. Altogether, aside from their beauty and " fancy 
points," considered economically they are certainly unsurpassed, and we 
are inclined to think unequaled. When placed on market their fine 
appearance as dressed poultry will secure ready sales, while the superb 
quality and rich flavor of the meat should command an extra price. 

Markings. — The plumage of cock : breast, under body, and thighs are a 
green, glossy black, with brown crimson shafts to feathers ; back, neck, and 
saddle hackles a mixture of rich, green, glossy black with a brown crimson, 
the former color predominating; wing-bay, chestnut with metallic green, 
glossy wing-bar ; tail, green, glossy black. Of the hen : ground color, 
chestnut brown, with beautiful lacing of medium size of metallic green, 
glossy black. Shank in both sexes yellow or orange, the deeper the color 
the better ; face, ears, wattles, and comb a rich red ; beak, horn color or 
yellow striped with horn. The body is very thick and compact; very 
broad at shoulders. From the above brief description our customers can 
form an idea regarding the plumage of the Indian Games. 

POLISH. 

The Polish Fowls belong to the non-sitting breeds, and are excellent 
layers. Their flesh is very fine, tender and juicy. They are reasonably 
hardy, if kept free from wet and dampness, which they cannot stand. 
They bear confinement well, better than any others of the laying breeds, 
and can be bred successfully in very small quarters. They are very tame. 
As an (jrnamcntal fowl they are ne plus ultra, and combining, as they do, so 
many good qualities, are excellent for a gentleman's park, while for farm 
use they cannot equal the Leghorns. The general form and markings are 
well depicted in the accompanying cut of a trio of White-Crested Black 
Polish. The varieties of Polish are, the White-Crested Black, pure White, 
Golden, Silver ; the three latter being both plain and bearded. 

For a gentleman's hennery, where a plentiful supply of fresh, rich eggs 
is desired, we know no more ornamental or "striking" variety of fowls 
than the White-Crested Black Polish. These fowls are entirely black in 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 



61 



color, of a rich, glossy shade, excepting the crest, which is pure white with 
only a few black feathers at the base in front. They are proud and stylish 
in carriage and ever active, being peculiarly wide-awake. Of late years 
they have become exceedingly popular, and we have even been surprised at 
the great demand for first-class stock and eggs ; but we can scarcely wonder, 
when we consider that they are the most attractive variety of a very beauti- 
ful and useful breed of fow^s. As old breeders know, most Polish are subject 
to the vertigo, but we have never had a case of this among our White- 
Crested Black Polish, they seeming to possess unusual vitality and strength 
of constitution. 




A Pair of Houdans. 



Trio of White-Ckesteu Black Polish. 



HOUDANS. 
Houdans, with their fine, well-formed bodies, covered with a beautiful 
plumage of black and white intermixed, pinky legs, and their heads almost 
hidden by the large crest, muffs, and beards, and triple, antler-like comb, 
and supernumerary toe, cannot fail to attract attention everywhere. They 
are the best and most hardy of any of the French breeds, and are a fine 
farmer's fowl. They also bear confinement well and are easily reared. As 
a table fowl they are well entitled to the cognomen of " The French Dork- 
ing." They are excellent layers of fine eggs of unusually large size. The 
cocks are very vigorous and can serve a large number of hens. The chickens 
usually hatch some hours before their time, and it is a rare occurrence to 



62 THE POULTRY YARD. 

find an unfertile egg. They are non-sitters. Houdans make excellent 
crosses on common fowls or on the Asiatics. 

La Fleche and Crevecoeurs are also French breeds of poultry, bred to a 
small extent in this country, but on account of their delicate constitutions 
are not valued for farmers' use. All the French breeds, it is believed, 
originated from a cross of the Polish and the Crevecoeurs, and are, in fact, 
a Polish fowl, to all intents and purposes, but increased in size ; the same 
ancestry is shown by the delicate constitution which characterizes nearly all 
the varieties. 

DORKINGS. 

The Dorking is held in high repute in England, and is well deserving 
of general cultivation by the farmers and fanciers of America. In perfect- 
ing this fowl, John Bull — true to his old-time reputation — has admirably 
catered to the tastes of an epicure. As a table fowl the Dorking is unsur- 
passed, affording an extra portion of very fine meat, remarkably abundant 
in the points most esteemed — the breast and wings — and all of the very 
richest quality. They are a heavy-bodied fowl, well put up, with long, 
broad back, and close feathered. Altogether, they are one of the very best 
breeds for the "general purpose" of both table fowls and eggs. The 
varieties are the Pure White, the Silver Gray, and the Colored Dorkings, 
the latter not being bred to any special standard of color. The Silver Grays 
embrace two varieties, the Rose Combed and the Single Combed, the latter 
being the most generally bred. They are so handsome that they have many 
admirers. The White Dorkings, as their name indicates, are spotless white 
in plumage, contrasting nicely on a green sward. The Whites must all 
possess rose combs, square in front, firm and close-fitting, terminating in a 
point behind. All pure Dorkings should have a supernumerary fifth toe. 
We will conclude with the following remarks from the pen of a well-known 
English breeder : — 

" This good, old-fashioned breed is so well-known, and everywhere so 
appreciated, that we need say but very little about it They have one fault, 
however, which detracts from their value, viz., that they will not thrive 
well where ducks are largely kept, whether from the fact that the damp soil 
which suits ducks is prejudicial to their health, or from other unexplained 
reasons. We have, ourselves, certainly proved that ducks are ' death ' to 
Dorkings, and are compelled to keep them away from ground which is 
tainted by waterfowl. They lay a large, white t^,g, are great favorites for 
table purposes, owing to their fine, meaty breasts and the whiteness of their 
flesh." 

BLACK MINORCAS. 

Although of very recent introduction into America, the Black Minorcas 
are a very old Spanish breed of fowls, somewhat resembling the Black Leg- 
horn or White-Face Black Spanish, but differing in face, which is coral red,. 



VARIETIES OF FOWLS. 



63 



with white ear lobes, while they are also much larger in size and more prolific 

layers. They are a very stylish breed, having a 

majestic carriage, close, compact bodies, low, 

well-set legs, and are much stouter than either 

of the aforesaid varieties. The plumage is a 

rich, glossy black throughout ; color of legs, 

dark slate or nearly black. They lay a very 




A Pair op Black Minorcas. 



large egg, equal to if not larger than a Cochin or Brahma egg. As to their 
laying qualities, they are considered far superior to any fowls known. Weight 
of cocks, 6 to 9 pounds ; hens, 4'^ to 7 pounds, but some fine specimens 
run 7 to Zyo pounds each. 



WHITE MINORCAS. 
The difference between the White and Black Minorcas is in color, the 
White having a red face and white ear lobes, as in the Black, which it 
also resembles in shape, carriage, size, and symmetry. The plumage is a 
glossy snow-white, and should be without a single stain. The origin is not 
definitely known, but is supposed to be a sport from the Black, as most 
black birds occasionally throw white chicks. They are very hardy, and 
bear confinement as well as any breed. Of four imported White Minorcas 
received at our yards March 25th, we gathered 240 eggs to June 25th, confined 
in a small yard — an average of 22^4 a month, and they would have done 



64 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



much better if at liberty or on a good grass run. 
weighinfr from 2^4 to ^ ounces each. 



The eggs were very large, 







White IMinokca 



BANTAMS. 
There are several distinct breeds of Bantams, the Games, Silver and 
Golden Sebrights, and Black African being the most important. All are 
cultivated almost solely as pets, and hence it is not in our province to speak 
of them here. Bantams can, however, be bred in so small a yard (five or 
six feet square) that they can be kept by many who have no better facilities. 
They also will produce as many eggs, although of small size, as larger 
fowls. Nothing can exceed their eggs in delicacy of flavor. Small Bantams 
can be run in the same yard with large Asiatics or Plymouth Rocks without 
danger of mixing. 

HOW TO RAISE GOOD TURKEYS. 

No farm stock pays higher or surer return for the capital and time invested 
than turkeys, yet they are often very poorly managed, and the profits are 
consequently meagre. We are convinced this neglect is frequently due to 
want of a proper knowledge of how to breed and manage them, and hence 
we shall give full and explicit directions on this subject. Turkey hens 
attain maturity much earlier than the gobblers. At two years old the hens 
will be full grown ; they very seldom become larger after that time ; while 
gobblers are not nearly matured at that age, but continue to grow until four 
or five years old. They are, however, in their prime breeding condition 
at three years old. Gobblers of this age mated to hens two years old will 
produce the finest, largest, and earliest matured young turkeys. The only 
objection to gobblers of this age is, that on account of their heavy size they 
will sometimes injure the hens. For this reason the gobblers, although of 
large frame, should not be allowed to lay on fat and become heavy during 
the breeding season. 



HO IV TO RAISE GOOD TURKEYS. 65 

As a necessary preventive of injury to the hens, the spurs and toe nails of 
the gobbler should be cut off. After the operation, the best and most speedy 
way to stop the bleeding is to saturate a rag with MonselV s Liquid Solution 
of Iron (which can be procured from any druggist), and tie over the bleeding 
parts for a day or two. It will immediately stop the blood. A yearling 
gobbler of large size, mated to two-year-old hens, will also produce fine and 
large offspring. Great care must always be taken in the selection of the 
breeding birds. It is very "penny wise and pound foolish" to slaughter 
the largest young turkeys because they will bring a few more cents in market. 
Those that grow the fastest and largest, and are of the most perfect form, 
should be retained for breeders. In a few years the increase in the average 
size and value of the flock will be so apparent as to convince the farmer that 
this is beyond all doubt the only right way, and by far the most profitable. 
We cannot too strongly urge this upon our readers. Turkeys are as sure of 
being improved or degenerated by the manner in which they are bred and 
selected as are pigs. It will pay every one who raises turkeys to pay eight or 
ten dollars for a good, thoroughbred gobbler to breed from. The gobbler 
should not be akin to the hens. In selecting birds for breeding, care must 
be taken that they possess no deformities. Crooked breast, which means what 
meat there is all developed on one side of the breast bone, is often caused by 
narrow roosting perches. A rail slit in half makes an excellent roost. The 
roosts should not be too high, if in a house, as the turkeys, not having room 
to take a long fly in descending, are seriously hurt. The roosts need not be 
all on the same level, but can slant in the form of gradually ascending steps. 
The largest and heaviest old gobblers will often prefer the lowest roost. It 
is useless to attempt to keep turkeys in the same house with hens. While 
they will generally thrive well roosting out in the trees, etc., 3'et, for evident 
reasons, it is always best to have a special house for them. This need only 
be a shed facing the south and open in front ; roof sloping from about nine 
to seven feet. Turkeys must have liberty and freedom to range at will. 
They will then pick up much of their food, but should always be fed regularly, 
every morning and evening. They will then always roost around home, and 
will be kept constantly in fine growing condition. A friend informs us that 
by actual experiment he has found that if the soft food (such as meal, etc.) 
should be mixed with milk instead of water, the turkeys when killed will be 
much more delicate, and the flesh of a far superior quality to those fed on a 
mixture made with water. Cottage cheese is an excellent mess for them. 
Turkey hens after three years old are unprofitable as breeders, often laying 
soft-shelled eggs. The same thing will happen if the turkey hens have not 
been set during the season. A turkey will lay eighteen or twenty eggs. The 
eggs of the first laying can be given to hens and the second laying will then 
be had earlier, when she should be allowed to sit herself, but should be given 
only so many eggs as she will cover satisfactorily. They begin to lay about 
April, and unless closely watched will make their nests in the field or among 
5 



66 THE POULTRY YARD. 

the shrubbery, where their eggs may be lost. If a hen is discovered in some 
such place after she has begun to sit, it will be well to afford all the protection 
possible by placing a cover or inverted box, with one side out, over the nest. 
The period of incubation is twenty-eight days. 

It is an undoubted fact that one impregnation of the gobbler fecundates 
the entire laying of the turkey hen, and yet it is advisable to keep the 
gobbler constantly with the hens. 

Turkey hens are persistent sitters; they frequently have to be compelled 
to leave the nest for food and water. The French, who are always such 
studious economists, avail themselves of this propensity to a very good 
profit in the hatching of chicks. A turkey hen will sit steadily for three 
months. By giving a little brandy the hen will sit still longer. One great 
merit is, that they will during all this while keep in such good condition that 
they can easily be fattened and killed when their services are no longer 
needed. Turkeys are very tender when young, until they finish "shooting 
the red." When the chicks are all hatched the mother turkey should be 
confined in a small coop placed in an enclosure of about six feet square, 
surrounded by a board twelve or fifteen inches high. After a while the hen 
can be allowed her freedom. She will guard her chicks carefully, and will 
stay in the enclosure with them, or nearby. The young turkeys must not be 
subjected to dampness nor allowed to run in wet grass. When about three 
weeks old they can be allowed their liberty with the hen on fine days. They 
must be fed " little and often," and allowed to get no "backsets." At first 
feed bread thoroughly soaked in milk, and give new milk to drink. Give 
hard-boiled eggs mashed up and mixed with bread and milk. Feed at least 
four or five times a day, giving each time just so much as they eat up clean. 
After a week or two give them curds, and continue until five or six weeks old. 
At this age feed scalded Indian meal mixed with curd ; also, at another time 
in the day, give scalded Indian, wheat middlings, and bran mixed, the 
mixture to be three-fourths bran. Turkeys must be liberally fed, and after 
they are safely through the critical period of their lives will gain in size very 
rapidly. They should be fed on stimulating food during the moulting season, 
on account of the great rapidity of shedding and the wonderful change they 
then undergo. From being stark naked they will be entirely feathered in a 
few weeks. They are at this time, of course, lighter in weight. A curious 
fact, and one worthy of notice, is, that the hens will not moult until they are 
through sitting. Hence, if from any cause they are set very late, the moulting 
is correspondingly later. We have known a hen to be entirely bare at 
Christmas. This must by all means be avoided, or the hens will likely not 
be able to withstand the trying ordeal. It has been observed that turkeys 
show a great fondness for dandelion leaves, in preference to all other greens. 
From the well-known medicinal properties of this plant, it will be well to 
sow a io.w seeds in some waste spot near the turkey house, so that they can 
have a constant supply. 



HO IV TO RAISE GOOD TURKEYS. 



67 



Varieties of turkeys are the Mammoth Bronze, Mammoth White, White 
Holland, Black, Blue, and Buff Turkeys. The Bronze Turkeys are generally 
considered the largest. Adult gobblers will weigh 40 and 45 pounds each, 
hens 15 to 20. Young turkey gobblers, at eight months old, will weigh from 
20 to 25 pounds each, and hens from 12 to 15 pounds. These are fair 
average weights. They will gain about one pound in two weeks. But occa- 
sionally, and also when birds are especially well fed, they will exceed 
these weights. For breeding stock, however, it is not well to force them too 
much. Further north, where the snow is on the ground for a longer period, 
and where, consequently, the turkeys are fed more corn, they will weigh 




Mammoth Bronze Turkey Gobbler. 



heavier. The new American standard only recognizes the light-tipped 
turkeys, while the Dark Bronze are really the niore beautiful, and by many 
breeders preferred. Both colors can be bred from the same flock if they are 
so mated, but some of this offspring will be of a mixed bronze plumage. The 
silver tips, however, are generally purer bred. The Dark Bronze will often 
throw buff or cinnamon birds, showing that they have been crossed with 
that variety to secure the desired color. Pure Bronze Turkeys are believed 
to have originated from a cross of the wild turkey and the gray Nar- 
ragansetts. 

The White Holland Turkeys are a very handsome and showy variety, 
the rich red beads and the intense glossy black beard of the male contrast- 



68 THE POULTRY YARD. 

ing beautifully with a plumage of snowy whiteness. For a lawn, a finer or 
more aristocratic ornament could not be desired. They are not only "a 
thing of beauty," but are also a very valuable breed. They are very much 
larger than the common White Turkey, and also, unlike them, are very hardy. 
Their flesh is much esteemed as of a superior delicacy. They are especially 
valued on account of their superior laying qualities and early mating. While 
their eggs are not quite as large as the Bronze, they are produced more 
abundantly. 

Black Turkeys are distinguished by an intense deep black color throughout, 
and are of large size. 

Blue Turkeys, sometimes called Slate Turkeys, should be of an even slaty 
color throughout. The best stock of this breed was imported from France. 
They are much esteemed on account of their prolificacy, early maturity, 
large size, and rich flavor of their flesh, being, in many cases, fully equal in 
size to the Bronze. This breed is well worthy of more general cultivation. 

Buff" Turkeys are, as their name indicates, of a pure buff color throughout. 
They are comparatively but little bred. In no stock is the importance of a 
good male so fully evinced, and every farmer should, each year or two, as 
already hinted, procure a good thoroughbred gobbler, of either the Bronze, 
White Holland, or Blue varieties. 

New Mammoth White Turkeys. — This distinct new breed, which we 
introduced in 1890, originated as a sport from the Mammoth Bronze Turkeys, 
in a similar manner as most white fowls have come as sports from the darker 
varieties. The breeder has spent a number of years in perfecting them, and 
now they throw onlv an occasional dark poult. They have the general 
characteristics of the Bronze variety, except that they are even handsomer, 
mature earlier, and are rather more domestic in their habits. The plumage 
is pure white throughout, the heads and wattles bright red, and shanks pinkish 
or flesh color. They almost equal in size the Mammoth Bronze Turkeys. 
They are not, as some might suppose, selected from the white Hollands, but 
are a distinct breed in every particular, and are certainly a great acquisition 
as the first and only breed of pure white turkeys that is both hardy and of 
large size. They are very ornamental, and will doubtless become very pop- 
ular throughout the United States as soon as there is a sufficient stock to 
supply the demand. 

RAISING QEESE. 

No land or water fowl can be so easily or cheaply raised as Geese. They 
will thrive well on pasture alone. It is of the first importance to breed 
from large, matured specimens, and when once mated, the same birds can be 
retained as breeders for many years. The gander, however, is apt to get 
cross with age, and hence has to be changed. Two or three geese, or some- 
times four, can be mated to one gander. The goose will lay 13 to 15 eggs. 
When ready for setting, she should only have 13 eggs. She is a splendid 



RAISING GEESE. 69 

sitter, and should not be disturbed. When leaving the nest, to feed, she 
covers her eggs, like the duck, although not so well. The period of incu- 
bation is thirty days. They usually commence laying in February. Large, 
common hens. Cochins or Brahmas, can be used as sitters, giving each hen 
three or four eggs. Turkeys will also hatch the eggs well. On account of 
the thick shells of the eggs and the long period of incubation, it is recom- 
mended to make the nest on the ground or moist earth, and during the last 
ten days or two weeks to sprinkle the eggs with tepid water. The gander 
will frequently assist his favorite mate in the labors of incubation, and after 
the goslings are hatched is very vigilant in his care of them. At first, the 
goslings should be kept warm, and fed " little and often," with hard-boiled 
eggs, bread crumbs, or scalded meal, not neglecting a plentiful supply of 
greens and grass. They are soon ready to turn out to graze, and will pick 
all their food, mostly grass, in the fields. They require no other food so 
long as this lasts, and they can be marketed in fine condition, called in 
England ''green geese." After the supply of grass is cut off by winter, 
the geese can be put up to fatten, if so desired. This should be done in a 
dark place, and they should be well fed, on oats, meal, or barley meal, or a 
mixture. A bunch of sweet hay should be tied up within their reach. 

Geese can be raised profitably with very little water, only plenty to drink 
and a large tub full for bathing. One valuable peculiarity of geese is that 
they always give notice of hen-roost robbers, whether biped or quadruped, 
by their shrill cries, and hence are excellent " watch-dogs." 

The Varieties OF Thoroughbred Geese are the Toulouse, Embden, and 
China. The value of thoroughbreds is here fully illustrated ; for while the 
first cross pure Embden geese with a Toulouse gander make the very finest 
and largest goslings for the market, yet these, if bred together, will rapidly 
deteriorate. 

The Toulouse Geese are of an even shade of gray, with white on the 
belly. In size, the Toulouse generally are the largest, although sometimes 
equaled by the Embden. The prize Toulouse geese at the Birmingham show 
weighed as high as sixty pounds per pair, and goslings forty-eight and a half 
pounds. This is counted the heaviest weight ever attained. They mature 
early, are very hardy, and produce an abundance of feathers. 

Embden or Bremen Geese are of a pure white plumage, with dark flesh- 
colored bills, orange legs, and bright blue eyes. They should be very tall 
and of erect carriage, with large, square bodies. Mr. J. K. Fowler gives the 
following weights of his prize geese: — the gander (three years old) weighed 
just thirty-two and a half pounds, and his mate (a goose of the same age) 
pulled down very nearly twenty-six pounds ; the goslings weighed twenty- 
seven and a half pounds and twenty-four pounds. They are kept and bred 
largely in Saxony, and are celebrated for the delicacy of their meat. They 
are good layers and easily raised. The feathers (a very important " crop " 



70 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



if geese are bred in quantities) are more valuable than those of the Toulouse 
or any other gray geese. 

The China or Hong Kong Geese are not so large, but are usually prolific 
layers. The goose will lay as many as thirty eggs before offering to sit, and 
will lay three or even four litters in a season. Their flesh is very superior; 
they mature early, are easily raised, and are readily fattened. Their eggs are 




Toulouse Geese. 
Winners o/ Several First Prizes — Accurately Engraved from Life. 



not as large by about one-third as the two preceding breeds, but the greatly 
increased quantity more than compensates. They are, besides, very orna- 
mental, having a large protuberance at the base of the bill, and they should 
receive more attention from poultry breeders. In color, they are both brown 
(like the Toulouse) and pure snowy white. In concluding our remarks on 
geese, we would strongly urge breeders and farmers everywhere to pay more 
attention to the breeding of this valued domestic fowl. 



RAISING DUCKS. 



71 



RAISING DUCKS. 

Farmers generally neglect the breeding of ducks, from an idea that they 
'' eat their heads off." There is no farm poultry, if well managed, more 
profitable. It has been proved by actual trial that ducks often lay more eggs 
than hens. Their eggs, besides being much larger and more valuable, also 
contain less waste. Ducks, if marketed at the right season, always bring 
good prices. They can be raised very easily. The eggs can be set under 
hens, and as many as forty or fifty young ducklings can be mothered by one 
hen. They require much the same food as fowls, and if intended for the 
market should be liberally fed. In Aylesbury, England, where thousand of 
ducks are marketed every week, it is estimated that the cost of producing a 
couple of ducklings of nearly four pounds' weight at eight weeks old is two 
shillings each. They fetch in the London market, during March, 
seventeen to nineteen shillings a couple. One great point in their favor is 




Pekin Ducks. 



that they are remarkably exempt from the ravages of fatal diseases that so 
often depopulate a barnyard of fowls. Ducks will almost earn their living 
by the vast quantities of grubs and insects they destroy. Two or three ducks 
can be given to one drake. 

The Pekin Duck, although only introduced from China in 1873, has 
already acquired great fame. They are by far the largest ducks in appearance, 
but, like all Asiatic fowls, are not so large as they look, having a loose, fluffy 
plumage. Although sometimes equaled in weight by the Rouens, yet, as a 
rule, we believe they are the heaviest. They mature very early, and are 
excellent layers. In 1875 one duck produced 108 eggs, which were sold for 
sitting, and after we were done shipping the eggs she was not done supplying 
them. That was a profitable duck, producing 108 eggs at $4.00 per dozen. 
Pekins can be raised successfully with only sufficient water for drinking ; they 
can be confined by a very low fence, and are very domestic. There 



72 THE POULTRY YARD. 

is one drawback to them, with which we have had some trouble. We have 
found that some males fail to impregnate the eggs. This, we have reason to 
think, is owing to their broad, clumsy bodies. They are clad in a beautiful 
coat of creamy whiteness, with yellow bills and orange legs. A single duck 
has been known to lay 200 eggs in one season. For breeding for sale, as a 
fancy fowl, Pekin Ducks are undoubtedly in great demand, and at the most 
satisfactory prices. For the first year or two the ducks sold for $20 per pair, 
and eggs $10 per dozen, and were eagerly sought at these figures. But now, 
from the increase of the stock, they can be had at much less prices. 

Aylesbury Ducks are snowy white in plumage, with flesh-colored bills 
and orange legs. They are long and graceful in shape of body, and comely 
in appearance. They are especially celebrated as prolific layers; they will 
commence in March and continue till June or July. They mature early, and 
are very hardy and easily raised. Extra specimens have attained the extreme 
weights of 18 and 19 pounds per pair ; but 12 to 14 pounds are good weights. 
These are the ducks that are so celebrated in England, and raised in such 
immense quantities in the district from which they derive their name. An 
Aylesbury drake will make a very marked improvement if crossed on the 
common stock. 

Rouen Ducks are without a rival in beauty and elegance of plumage. 
They resemble the wild mallards. Choice strains are very large. There 
are many degenerated specimens of this variety in the country that are of 
small size. They mature early and are excellent table fowls. While not 
as prolific as the Aylesbury, we have known them to lay very well, laying 
in the fall as well as the spring. Their eggs are not as large as the Ayles- 
bury. 

Cayuga Ducks are of American origin, and are of one solid metallic 
black plumage throughout. They are of large size, good layers, and easily 
raised. 

Muscovy Ducks are very old. They are distinctly a " dry land " duck, 
and never quack. The drakes are the largest of all, but the ducks are 
rather small. They are five weeks hatching. They are both pure white and 
white and black splashed. Drakes will weigh ten and twelve pounds each. 
The mules between this breed and the water ducks make a very good table 
fowl, celebrated for early maturity. 

Crested White Ducks are very attractive. They are pure white, with 
large topknots. They are of good size, mature early, and lay well. 

Call Ducks are small and chiefly esteemed as ornamental water fowls. 
They are both brown and white in plumage, the former resembling the wild 
mallards. 



GUINEA FOWLS. 73 

GUINEA FOWLS. 

Guineas lay a large number of eggs, which are of a very rich flavor. 
Their flesh is very choice and game-like. They have, however, their draw- 
backs, which are their inherent nature of cruelty to other poultry, and also 
their great propensity to wander away from home. Both these objections 
to them can, however, to a great degree, be overcome ; the former by kind 
and goodly treatment of them ; the latter, by furnishing secluded nests, and 
also not disturbing them. If a guinea hen's nest is robbed of a number of 
eggs at once, she will forsake it and seek a more secluded one. Hence the 
eggs should be gathered every day, one G.g^ being left in the nest. The hen 
lays from sixty to one hundred eggs per annum, the eggs being rather small, 
very pointed at the end, and of a dark cream-color. The eggs are of excel- 
lent flavor, and there is considerable demand for them in the markets, where 
we have often seen them exposed for sale. The young chicks have very 




\\ m 1 1_ L.LI 1 



small crops, and hence must have them filled very frequently, with the same 
food as recommended for chicks. In a natural state guineas mate in pairs, 
but under domestication one male will readily serve a couple of hens. The 
Guinea hen seldom sits herself until August, when chicks are always some- 
what difficult to rear. Hence, it is advisable to set the earlier eggs under 
hens, which not only avoids this difficulty, but brings them up tamer. The 
period of incubation is generally twenty-six days, not twenty-eight, as is 
often stated. It is very difficult to distinguish the sexes. This can be 
done by watching their actions, by the hen's peculiar cry, and also 
from the fact that the cock is more cruel to other fowls. Guineas will gen- 
erally roost in the trees around their home, and are the best of " watch dogs," 
giving ample notice of the approach of any person in the neighborhood. 
The ordinary Pearl Guinea Fowl (so called from the resemblance of the 
spots to pearls) are very uniformly marked with white spots in a ground 
color of gray purple. Most of the common guineas have patches of white, 
or white feathers in the wings, and are not nearly so pretty. Pure white 
guineas are rather rare, and are very attractive ornaments on a green lawn. 



74 THE POULTRY YARD. 

PLANS FOR POULTRY HOUSES. 

For this chapter, which, with that on " The Farm and Garden Incubator," 
will add much to the vakie of this little treatise, we would express our indebt- 
edness to the publishers of The Farm and Garden, Philadelphia, by whose 
jiermission they are published, and who have kindly supplied us with the 
illustrations. We also give a description of our Poultry Yards at Fordhook 
Farm, for which we are often asked. 

THE POULTRY HOUSE. 

The main point to be observed, when constructing a poultry house, is to 
secure as much space on the floor as possible, and to avoid too broad a roof. 
The object is to save expense, as the roof is the most costly part of a house, 
while the real value depends upon the area on the floor in proportion to total 
cost. Hundreds of designs of poultry houses have been illustrated and 
published, but, unfortunately, each individual has certain preferences which 
prevent perfect unanimity in constructing them on the most favorable plans. 
It is as easy to have all agree upon one common plan of a dwelling house for 
humans as for fowls. The climate, soil, breed, and space are all to be con- 
sidered when making the design. 

No matter what kind of a poultry house may be prepared, the fact must not 
be overlooked that during a great portion of the winter, when the snow is on 
the ground, the fowls must be kept confined in the house. The greater the 
space, especially on the floor, therefore, the better they will be enabled to 
exercise and keep in proper condition, and z.?, yards are often of no con- 
sequence during a severe season, success may attend upon the investment 
of a few dollars more than the amount originally intended, and it often 
happens that loss occurs simply for want of room on the floor. If the area on 
the floor is limited to a small proportion for each hen, and the house cannot 
be conveniently enlarged, then the stock must be reduced, in order to give 
those remaining more room. 

It will not do to feed the hens and then have them sit idly about doing 
nothing. They then become addicted to feather-pulling and other vices, 
while the food tends to fatten them by reason of their inactivity. The house 
should have plenty of sunlight, so as to become warm and also light. The 
light is the most important thing of all. Fowls have the greatest aversion to 
gloomy surroundings. They will be perfectly satisfied with well-lighted, 
comfortable apartments, but prefer the bleak outside to a house that is 
but dimly lighted. During the day the house should be kept open as 
much as possible, provided the birds are not exposed to draughts or 
chilling blasts, so as to purify and ventilate it, but during the night, in cold 
weather, the house should be warm and close, as plenty of cold air will get in 
without the use of ventilators. 

The object should be to have the number in the flock only large enough 



PLANS FOR POULTRY HOUSES. 



75 



to utilize the space on the floor to advantage. If too crowded they will not 
lay, as is well known by many who are aware that sometimes their neighbors 
get more eggs from a small flock than they do from large flocks, and the 
secret is that they have plenty of room for exercise. The floor should be 
large enough to permit of places for scratching, dusting, roosting, and lay- 
ing. Just how much space may be required depends upon the size of the 
flock. We think a house lo X lo feet none too large for ten fowls, or ten 
square feet for each hen. 

THE CHEAPEST POULTRY HOUSE THAT CAN BE BUILT. 
We give a design of the poultry house of Mr. J. L. Harris, of New Jersey, 
which, though not as convenient and as well arranged as some houses, can 
be built at the least cost in proportion to the greatest available space. The 
roof is always the most expensive part of a house. The studding and rafters 
are also expensive items. We propose to get rid of much of both the roof and 
the studding, which will be noticed by reference to Fig. 2. Before beginning 




Fig. I. — Cheap Poultry House. 



the description, we will state that although we give the size shown here, yet 
the house may be of any length desired, while boards 8, 10, 12, 14, or 16 feet 
may be used, according to preference, but we will use, for convenience, boards 
ID feet long and one inch thick, which are nailed straight up and down, the 
joints covered with strips two inches wide. We would suggest that before 
putting on the strips the boards be covered with building paper (price one- 
half cent per square foot) and painted with linseed oil ; or cheap tarred paper 
may be used, as the strips will hold the paper on firmly, and the house will 
then be water-tight and frost-proof. 

No posts are required, as the boards are nailed to six stringers (2 X 3 or 
3X4) running lengthwise the building, the ends of which are shown zX A A A 
AAA, Fig. 2. The roof is made by fastening boards to cross-pieces, and 
tarred paper placed over the boards. The cross-pieces are simply boards four 
feet long and one inch thick and nine inches wide, slightly rounded. The 
partitions are made by nailing two boards (each one foot wide) at the bottom, 
with lath running straight up and down. The bottom boards and top cross- 



76 THE POULTRY YARD. 

pieces tie the building together. A few strips, running crosswise, may be 
needed for fastening the lath partitions. 

For a building 12 feet on the floor, 4 feet on the roof, and 10 feet on the 
sides, the cost will be about as follows : Boards, 2000 feet for sides (less space 
taken up by the windows), at $20 per thousand, $40; roof, 400 feet, ^8 ; 
ends, 200 feet, %^\ partitions, bottom boards, 250 feet, ^5; doors, etc., 
200 feet, ^4; studding (lengthwise), 600 feet, at $20 per thousand, $12; for 
partitions, etc., 400 feet, ^8 ; total for lumber, ^81. Tarred paper for roof 
will be, for paper, paint, etc., ^12, while paper for sides, and also strips, 
will be about ^15, while hardware and incidentals will add about |io more, 
making a total of $128 for a house 100 feet long and 12 feet wide, for 
material. The estimate is a rough one, and may not be correct, but it will 
convey some idea of the cost. The labor will be extra, but the house is 




12 FEET 

Fig. 2. Cheap Poultry House. 



very simple in construction, and can be easily built. Windows will be extra, 
of course. 

The advantages of this house are : i. Its cheap cost. 2. Its form braces 
it firmly. 3. No posts or uprights are required, except for doors. 4. The 
roof may be nearly flat, and of cheap material. 5. It gives the greatest 
available space on the floor for the least money. 6. On opening the doors, 
the two foot boards prevent birds from passing by you, nor can they see 
each other from adjoining apartments when on the floor. 7. It is a cov- 
ered shed in bad weather, as a flock of a dozen hens may have a space 10 X 
12 feet. 8. It can be built of i6-feet boards, if preferred, and the upper 
part used as a pigeon loft. 9. A carpenter is not required to build it, as the 
plan is simple. 10. It may have a board floor, if preferred. 11. The sides 
cheapen the cost of the roof. 12. The windows may be of any width or 



PLANS FOR POULTRY HOUSES. 



77 



HOUSE FOR TWENTY FOWLS. 
Illustration below shows a house lo feet wide and lo feet long, with 
projection in front. The back wall is 6 feet high, and the front 8 feet. 
The roost is over a raised platform, which catches the droppings, with the 
nests under the platform. The object is to give plenty of room on the 
ground. Though the roof will be only 12 feet wide, yet it will be noticed 
that the projection, which has a window in the center, allows 4 feet more, 
making the floor 10 X i4 feet, or 140 square feet. A small window is higher 
up, to give more light, while the door is at the end, next to the projection. 
For 20 birds there should be two roosts over the platform. The platform 
should be two feet wide (if one roost), or three feet wide if two roosts. 
Observe that in front is a hinged door, which may be raised up during the 
day, or let down at night, which not only allows plenty of ventilation dur- 




A House for Twenty Fowls. 



ing the day, but also more covered space when raised up, as well as serving 
for a shady resort in summer. The roof maybe of tarred paper, while the 
inside may be lined with sheathing paper. 

Better still than the tarred paper is the patent protecting cloth, made by 
the U. S. Waterproofing Fibre Co., 56 South St., New York. Though in- 
tended to take the place of glass for greenhouse purposes, it should also be 
widely used by poultrymen. We recommend it also for a covering for coops 
of young chicks. 

POULTRY HOUSE AND OPEN SHED. 
The poultry house given in the illustration is 11 feet wide, 16 feet 6 inches 
long, 5 feet high from ground to front plate, 6 feet to rear plate, 9 feet to 
center, making rear roof-board 5 feet 6 inches long, front roof-board 8 feet 
long, projecting 6 inches, in each case, over plate, ends projecting same, 
sills 3X4, uprights and cross pieces 2X3? entrance passage 4X8. In pass- 



78 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



age there are four feed boxes i foot deep and 15 inches wide, 2 feet 6 inches 
high from ground, with covers, which will hold quite a quantity of grain of 
different kinds. In center a door opens into the room marked 6X8, which 
in elevation is the open corner. In the same room are the nest boxes, six 
in number, with covers, i foot wide and 15 inches deep, and the same height 
from ground as feed boxes. Division walls are 4 feet high, of tight boards, 
and the rest, to roof, of wire netting. Main room for fowls is 8 X 10 ; drop 
board, as indicated by black line on curve, 2 feet from ground and 21 inches 
wide, roost pole in center, three windows 2 feet wide by 3 feet 3 inches high, 
6 inches apart, hinged to open in summer; inside netting, 15 inches from 
ground under center window, exit ; under nest boxes exit for corner room. 
In roof, ventilation window 12 inches wide by 18 inches long, on center 
pivot, opened by cord. Roof shingled, sides battened. Cost, complete, 
$50.00; material, $35.00 ; labor, $ 15. 00. 




Poultry House and Open Shed. 



The house was designed for 20 hens the year round, to stay in space 8X10 
feet, and yard as much as can be given, the more the better. In the eleva- 
tion, the o]3en corner is intended to have wire netting in summer and early 
spring, and sash in winter. The room is designed for a hatching-room, and 
as a warm, dry place for young chickens on the ground, and in wet and 
very hot days in summer for fowls from the main room to congregate, and 
in the winter months a fine place to keep the hens busy scratching, and gives 
so much more room. 

The nest-boxes are raised from the ground high enough to admit of extra 
boxes for setting hens. They can come off and go back at liberty. The 
covers to nest-boxes are slanted so the fowls cannot roost on them, and you 
are not obliged to go into the main house for eggs. 

The grain bins are compact and out of the way. The narrow line in 
front of boxes is aboard 6 inches wide by 7 feet long, intended for the hens 
to fly up on to enter nests, and it also serves as a cover for soft-feed trough 
underneath. The drinking fountain hangs on an upright, represented on 
drop board as dots, which is under same and out of the way. 



PLANS FOR POULTRY HOUSES. 



79 



The price named is what it would cost in this locality, but by battening 
the roof it would cost some less, and West, perhaps very much less. It, of 
course, depends some on locality and way of getting at it. 

As will be seen from a glance at illustration below, the houses, instead of 
forming one long range, are all separate. Each is divided into two com- 
partments by a passageway through the center ; from this all the eggs 
can be collected and the droppings cleared away without entering the 
roosting places. Each compartment leads into an inclosed run of its own. 
The runs are planted with fruit-bearing trees, and are inclosed by wire 
netting and boarded up from the bottom about two feet. This effectually 
prevents all fighting through the wires. The houses are built of wood, and 
measure 24 X 10 feet. The yards measure 90 X 25 feet, so there is ample 
room for a good pen of birds in each, while the grass can at the same time 




be kept in fairly good condition. Of course, this varies greatly according to 
the breed, as some breeds, such as the Asiatics, are much harder on the grass 
than others. A house having lately been built at the extreme right serves as 
the incubator and brooder-house, as well as the food-store and kitchen, etc. 
It consists of one floor and basement. Down below are the incubators in full 
working order, and up above are the brooders with inclosed inside runs, 
which are used until the chickens are old enough to be put out, and also in 
bad weather. All the floors are of concrete and rat-proof, as are all the 
houses. They are made so by a very simple contrivance : rat-proof netting 
is sunk three feet into the ground round the outside of all the houses and runs, 
and bent over flat for about one foot in the ground at the bottom. This latter 
precaution effectually prevents the rats from burrowing under the netting. 
The Pineland and Monarch incubators alone are used. Outside the house is 



80 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



another inclosed run which is chicken-proof, where the young chicks are con- 
fined till they are strong enough to be turned into the large chicken nursery 
beyond, and again there is another yard for still older chickens. 



THE FARM AND GARDEN INCUBATOR. 

In presenting this incubator we will state that it differs but little from 
one given in a previous issue, but we will attempt to make it plainer than 
before. 

First, get good boards, i inch thick and i foot wide. Cut them 46 inches 
long for your floor, and have the floor 42 inches wide. Place four posts, 
which are 24 inches high, at each corner (Fig. i), marked A A A A, and 
two posts (i? B) in front, the two front posts to be 18 inches high. Make 
posts of 2 X 3 strips and nail them securely to the floor. Fasten the floor 
■boards together by strips underneath, using as many as preferred. The four 
corner posts are for your 

OUTER BOX. 

This box, when finished, is 4 feet long and 44 inches wide, outside, pro- 
vided it is made of boards one inch thick. Including its tops and floor, it 





Fig. I. Inner BuX. 



Fig. 2. Egg Dkawek. 



is 26 inches high. Nail on your side boards. Let rear and front end boards 
cover ends of side boards. After the tank is in, and the top of the inner 
box is on, cover inner box with sawdust, and nail down the top of the outer 
box. Tongued and grooved boards should be used for every part of the 
incubator except the floor, which should be of heavy boards. All the 
measurements given here, however, are for boards one inch thick, but three- 
quarter stuff may be used if desired. 



INNER BOX. 
This holds, or rather comprises, ventilator, egg drawer, and tank. It is 
40 inches long and 32 inches wide, outside measurement, and must hold a 
tank 30 X 36. The side boards are nailed to the posts B B (Fig. i) and 
front boards of outer box, and fastened at the rear end by the rear boards 
being nailed to the ends of the side boards. Cleats are put on ends and 



THE FARM AND GARDEN INCUBATOR. 



81 



sides (on the floor j, to fasten the inner box on tlie floor. Nail the bottoms 
of the side and rear end boards to the cleats. 

To make the inner box, refer to Fig. 5, which has portions of the outer 
and inner boxes torn away, to show interior. A is the larger or outer box; 
B is the inner box ; C C are strips i inch wide and i inch thick, nailed to 
sides of inner box; D D are strips i inch wide and i inch thick nailed to 
sides of inner box. The strips C C, with iron rods, half-inch thick (^F J^ F 
F), hold and support the tank. Let ends of iron rods extend a little into 
sides of inner box, to assist in supporting the weight of water. The strips 
D D are to hold the egg drawer. ^5" is a tin tube, \y^ inches in diameter 
and 2 feet long, placed in the front part of the ventilator, to admit air. 
Observe, however, that Fig. 5 does not show the sawdust in front, as will be 
explained. We will now take up the separate parts. First is the 

VENTILATOR. 
This is simply the bottom of the inner box, being under the egg drawer, 
5 inches deep and 30 inches wide (the side boards of the inner box being 





Fig. 3. Tank. 



Fig. 4. Incubator Ready for the Egg Drawer. 



its sides). The front end is boxed off, which includes the front boards and 
also the sawdust, thus making ventilator, inside measurement, 2)^ inches 
long. E is the tin tube, for the admission of air, before mentioned. Use 
no sawdust in the ventilator, but paper the bottom well and close, so as to 
have no air enter except through the tin tube. The tin tube is open at the 
front on outside of incubator, and enters into ventilator. 



EGG DRAWER. 
The Q.gg drawer goes under \\\q tank, and rests on the strips D D (Fig, 5). 
The egg drawer is 4 inches deep, outside measurement. It is 39 inches 
long, outside measurement (which includes the boxed-off portion in front of 
drawer), and is 30 inches wide. Three movable trays, each i;t4 inches 
deep, are fitted in ^gg drawer. Nail strips one inch wide and five-eighths of 
an inch thick, one inch apart, the length of the &gg drawer (but not under 
boxed-off portion), for the bottom. Mortise ends of strips in ^gg drawer, 
so as to have the bottom smooth. Tack a piece of muslin on these strips 
6 



82 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



(thin muslin is best), and tack it on the hiside of the drawer. Now nail 
strips to bottom of trays (use lath, if desired, cut to one inch width), but 
you need not mortise them. Simply nail them on the bottom, one inch 
apart, running lengthwise, and tack muslin on the bottom of the trays 
inside, in the same way as for egg drawer. The inside of your drawer will 
be 3 inches deep. The sawdust in front of egg drawer (the boxed portion) 
fits in boxed front of incubator (see Fig. 4). Put a broad cap on outside 
of egg drawer, at front end, to exclude air. 



THE TANK. 

This is 30X36 inches, and is 7 inches deep 
strips C C, and rods F F F F (Fig. 5). 



It is supported by the 
Being 36 inches long, it goes 




Fig. 5. Interior of Incubator. 



close up to the back boards of the inner box, the front being enclosed by a 
sliding board, secured with upright strips at each end of board, one inch in 
diameter (so as to remove tank when necessary), which leaves a small space 
in front of the sliding board to be filled with sawdust. Have the tank tube 
in front only long enough to extend through the sawdust in front, and have 
your faucet to screw into this tube, the tube being threaded. The tube on 
top of tank should be long enough to extend through the tops of both boxes 
(outer and inner, through the sawdust), and should, therefore, be 7 inches 
high from top of tank, as is seen at Fig. 4. When the incubator is ready, 
we have Fig. 4, which shows the sawdust packing in front, by looking into 
the opening into which the egg drawer enters when filled with eggs. Fig. 
6 shows the incubator as if cut in half lengthwise, and displays all the posi- 



THE FARM AND GARDEN INCUBA TOR. 



83 



tions. What is meant by the " boxed-off" portion in front, is that portion 
filled with sawdust in front. The sideboards of the inner box are joined, on 
their front ends, to the front boards of the outer box, being also nailed to 
the two short middle posts. Fill in between the boxes with sawdust, and if 
sawdust is scarce, use chaff, oats, finely-cut hay (rammed down), or anything 
that will answer, but sawdust or chaff is best. In Fig. 6 ^ is the tube on 
top, B the faucet in front, C the opening for the egg drawer, and D the 
tube to admit air into the ventilator. This tin tube should be as close to 
the bottom of the ventilator as possible. When making incubator, do not 
forget to cut holes for tubes of tank and also for air tubes to come through, 
and then putty around them. 

DIRECTIONS FOR OPERATING. 

Each tray holds about So eggs, laid in promiscuously, the same as in a 
nest, making total number for incubator 240 eggs. First fill the tank with 



Aa 




TANK 



EGG DRAWER 




s^ffi 



3 



Fig. 6. Sectional View op Incubator. 

boiling water, but never allow it to remain in the tube on top, as it thus 
increases pressure ; hence, when tank is full to top of the tube, draw off a 
gallon of water. Fill it 48 hours before putting eggs in, and have heat up 
to 115° before they are put in. As the eggs will cool down the heat, do 
not open the drawer for six hours, when the heat should be 103°, and kept 
as near to that degree as possible, until the end of the hatch. It is best to 
run it a few days without eggs, to learn it thoroughly. Place incubator 
in a place where the temperature does not fall below 60°. As the heat 
will come up slowly, it will also cool off slowly. Should the heat be diffi- 
cult to bring up, or the eggs be too cool, you can raise or lower the trays, 
using small strips under them. You can also stop up or open the air tube 
in the front opening of the ventilator whenever you desire. When the eggs 
are put in, the drawer will cool down some. All that is required then is to 
add about a bucket or so of water once or twice a day, in the morning and 
at night, but be careful about endeavoring to get up heat suddenly, as the 



84 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



heat does not rise for five hours after the additional bucket of water is 
added. The cool air comes from the ventilator pipe, passing through the 
muslin bottom of the tgg drawer. Do not oblige visitors by opening the 
machine near the critical time that the chicks are due to hatch, as it causes 
considerable loss of heat and moisture, both of which are very essential at 
this period. Cold draughts on the chicks at that time are fatal. Be sure your 
therfnometer records correctly, as half the failures are due to incorrect ther- 
mometers, and not one in twenty is correct. Place the bulb of the ther- 
mometer even with the top of the eggs — that is, when the thermometer is 
lying down in the drawer — with the upper end slightly raised, so as to allow 
the mercury to rise, but the bulb and eggs should be of the same heat, as 
the figures record the heat in the bulb, and not in the tube. 

Turn the eggs twice a day at regular intervals — six o'clock in the morn- 
ing and six o'clock at night. Do not let them cool lower than 70°. Turn 
them by taking a row of eggs from the end of the tray and placing them at 
the other end, turning the eggs by rolling them over with your hand. By 




Fig. 7. Incubator Complete. 

removing only one row you can roll all the rest easily. Give no moisture 
the first week, very little the second, and plenty the third week. Do not 
sprinkle the eggs. For moisture, put a wet sponge, the size of an ^gg 
(placed in a flat cup), in each tray the second week, and two sponges in 
each tray the third week. Do not put in sponges until you are about to 
shut up the drawer, after turning. Wet the sponges by dipping in hot 
water. After the first ten days the animal heat of the chicks will partially 
assist in keeping the temperature. Be careful, as heat always drops when 
chicks are taken out. You can have a small glass door in front of egg 
drawer, to observe thermometer, if desired. Always change position of 
trays when eggs are turned, putting the front one at the rear. 



HOW TO RAISE DUCKS WITHOUT WATER, HOW TO MAKE THEM 
ATTAIN GREAT WEIGHTS, AND WHERE THE PROFIT LIES. 

It was once supposed that ducks could not be raised without ponds of 
water, but they are now kept in brooders 5X7 feet, with yards 5 X 16 feet 
(100 in each yard), until they are eight or ten weeks old, when they are 



HOW TO RAISE DUCKS. 85 

ready for market. Ducks are profitable if sold as soon as they reach 
four pounds weight, or five at the highest, as they will return rapid growth 
and increase for all the food they may consume up to that age. After that 
time they do not pay, except to keep a few, unless they have a pond and 
grass run. June is the best month for selling, and July next, as young ducks 
bring from 25 to 30 cents per pound, according to quality, in the New York 
markets. A pair of Pekin, Rouen, or Aylesbury ducks ought to weigh, with 
heavy feeding, ten pounds per pair the day they are ten weeks old. 

If raised under hens, keep the hen and young ducks in little coops and 
runs, away from water. In fact, until the ducks are feathered, they should 
be given drinking water in a manner only to allow of their getting their beaks 
wet ; for, contrary to the old saying that " wet weather is splendid for young 
ducks," nothing is so fatal to them as dampness. Very cold drinking water 
will cause them to have cramps, hence it should be tepid. 

Feed them, after they are 24 hours old, on a mixture of mashed potatoes, 
which may be thickened with ground grain (composed of equal parts of 
corn meal, ground oats, and middlings), and give them all the milk they can 
drink. Scald all the food the first two weeks. After they are three days 
old, give them meat, chopped fine (or ground meat), mixed in their food 
three times a week. Chopped grass, cabbage, vegetable tops, clover hay 
chopped and steeped in water, or any kind of green food may be given lib- 
erally. After the second week cooked turnips and ground grain will answer, 
with a little ground meat. Feed four times a day until they go to market. 

They are subject to but few diseases. Cramps occur from cold water. 
Leg weakness comes from damp quarters at night. Apoplexy attacks grown 
ducks when they are very fat, and they are also subject to vertigo. If at- 
tacked by the large, gray body lice on the heads, they will appear appa- 
rently well, and suddenly turn over on their backs and die. The floor upon 
which they sleep must be of boards, and should be kept very clean and dry. 
As we stated, dampness is fatal to young ducks. 

If raised in incubators feed them in little troughs, to avoid fouling the 
food. They require plenty of heat in the brooder at first, but after they are 
four weeks old can do well without it. Give them plenty of drinking water 
always, and let it be clean. 

Young ducks are usually marketed dressed, leaving on heads and legs, 
but some markets require the entrails to be drawn, while others do not. 
Old ducks seldom bring over twelve cents per pound. The best breeds are 
Pekins, Rouens, and Aylesburys ; or those breeds may be crossed on each 
other with advantage. The best time to hatch them is in April and May, 
so as to get them in market in June and July. 

A duck of the improved breeds will lay from 120 to 160 eggs per year, 
and usually begins in February. If kept in the house until about eight 
o'clock in the morning, they will lay in the house, as they lay early in the 
morning, but if turned out too soon they sometimes deposit their eggs in 



86 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



other places, and even on ponds. One drake to six ducks will be sufficient, 
and if young females are used, it is best to have a two-year old drake, 
though sometimes the eggs hatch well from parents of the same age on both 
sides, and less than a year old ; but they should not be kept too fat, or the 
eggs will not hatch well. At Hammonton, N. J., this season, several thou- 
sand ducks (that had no water except to drink) were raised in brooders, and 
the same is done annually by Mr. James Rankin, of South Easton, Mass., 
who raises as many as 4000 a year. The great desiderata are good care, 
regular feeding, and dry quarters. 

Compared with broilers, the prices, as reported in the New York markets, 
show that early in the season broilers bring as high as 65 cents per pound, 
though at that period no ducklings are sent to market. 

The following table is a fair comparison of the prices of young ducks and 
chicks, dressed: — 



May 2Sth. 
June 4th, 
June iSth, 
June 2Sth, 



1891. 



1892. 



Ducks. 


Chicks. 


Ducks. 


Chicks. 


28 


50 


20 


22 


25 


45 


22 


25 


18 


30 


23 


24 


16 


28 


28 


30 



It will be observed the chicks are in the lead in the prices, but ducklings 
are sold when they weigh from three to four pounds each, while chicks must 
weigh, for the late months, over two pounds each, but it requires, on an 
average, three montlis for the chick to reach two pounds, while the duck 
arrives at that weight (averaging a number) in less than half that time, and 
is ready for market (weighing three pounds) in seven weeks, thus giving 
really a larger profit. 

Of the breeds, a cross between the Pekin drake and Rouen female makes 
the best duckling, as it is white in color, like the Pekin, and has the hardi- 
ness of the Rouen. Both breeds are very large, and grow rapidly. The 
white color avoids pin feathers showing when the ducklings are dressed. 
They are never sold alive, as is the case with the adults. The Aylesbury is 
also an excellent white duck, and nearly as large as the Pekin, the two 
white breeds making an excellent cross. Always use males of the Pekin, 
Rouen, or Aylesbury when grading up a common flock. The White Mus- 
covy drake and Pekin female is an excellent cross, giving a very compact 
carcass. Compared with chicks, the gxo\\\\-\ forced or^ high feeding, with a 
lot of ten ducklings and chicks, for experiment, with the same amount of 
food for producing one pound of flesh (usually a cost of five cents for each 
pound of carcass), we present the following : — 



PRACTICAL AND PITHY PARAGRAPHS ON POULTRY. 87 



1 week old, 

2 weeks old, 

3 " " 

4 " " 

5 " '■ 

6 " " 

7 " " 

8 " " 

9 " " 



DUCKLING. 



CHICK. 



POUNDS. OUNCES. POUNDS. OUNCES. 



II 

5 



o 


2 


o 


4 


o 


6X 


o 


lO 


o 


H 


I 


^-% 


I 


VA 


I 


12 


2 


O 



As they approach maturity (after the eighth week) the ratio of gain 
begins to become proportionately less, while some were heavier than others. 
The ducks were kept in a small coop, and fed to demonstrate the highest 
point they could be made to attain, the pure-bred Pekins being used for 
experiment. The weight of chicks is taken from our May number. — 
The Farm and Garden. 



PRACTICAL AND PITHY PARAGRAPHS ON POULTRY. 

Selected from The Farm and Garden. 

SUPERVISION. 
It has been demonstrated, by repeated failures, that no one can delegate 
the duty of attending to poultry, but must do it himself. To secure a com- 
petent man to manage a large poultry farm is no easy matter, and a really 
competent assistant or manager will want something more than the ordinary 
monthly wages and board. Nearly all failures result from incompetency. 
To get together a large flock of hens, and put " a man " over them who is 
not only an inexperienced person, but below the average in intelligence, is 
ruinous to the prospects. It requires knowledge and intelligence to manage 
a large poultry farm, and quite a salary is required to secure the right kind 
of a manager, for they are scarce. Any person engaging in the poultry 
business must be sure and be on the ground at all times. He may have an 
assistant, and even a foreman and other help, but a single mistake may 
change a prospective profit to a loss, and hence the careful and watchful eye 
of the owner must be over the work, and he will even then find that no one 
can do what is required so well as himself, for disasters have been the results 
of many ventures. 



88 THE POULTRY YARD. 

t 

QUARANTINE THE NEW COMERS. 
Never bring a fowl from another yard and place it in your flock until you 
have kept it in quarantine. Provide a coop for that purpose, and place it 
at some distance from the yards, keeping the new birds confined long enough 
to know if they are healthy. The strictest precautions are necessary, or you 
will bring roup or cholera into your yards before you are aware of it. And, 
what is more, even if there is no disease, quarantine for fear of //ce. Always 
be on the watch against lice, for should a lousy bird get into the yard it will 
soon stock the whole. 

GETTING EGGS WHEN PRICES ARE HIGH. 
We know well that in all branches of business there are those who take 
advantage of opportunities and seek the benefit of a rise in prices. In sell- 
ing eggs or in procuring them, the matter of cost must be considered only in 
relation to the price. We can better afford to incur an expense of two dol- 
lars, in place of one, where the chances for profit are twice as great, than not 
to derive any profit at all. When eggs are well up in price, commanding 
over thirty cents per dozen, we may, by feeding properly, secure them. We 
can point to a poultryman who paid twelve cents a pound for fresh beef for 
his hens, when eggs were forty cents a dozen, and it paid him well. Just 
here, we will say to those who complain of receiving no eggs, to change the 
food by giving a goodly supply of meat once a day. A pound will supply 
twelve fowls, and, if they are kept warm, they will nearly always lay under a 
meat diet. A better plan is to chop a pound of meat, and add to it a quart 
of beans (after the beans have been cooked till they are soft), and thicken the 
mass with ground oats till it is of the consistency of dough. Feed this once 
a day to twenty-five hens, with whole grain at night, and the chances are 
they will lay in the coldest weather. 

ARE ROOSTERS ALWAYS NECESSARY ? 
The general supposition is that there must always be a rooster in the 
flock, but this is not necessary unless the eggs are required for hatching 
purposes. An Illinois correspondent wants an opinion on the subject, and 
says : — 

Does it make any difference whether you keep roosters with hens if the 
hens are only wanted for eggs alone ? Some inform me that the hens will 
not lay as many eggs, while others say it makes no difference. I would like 
your opinion, or to hear from your readers thereon. 

Laying is involuntary, and the hen has no control over it. If she is in 
the proper condition she will lay, and cannot avoid it. The male has no 
influence on the number of eggs, his functions being independent of the 
natural development of the eggs. Of course, eggs will not hatch if no 



PRACTICAL AND PITHY PARAGRAPHS ON POULTRY. 89 

males are with the hens, but there will be just as many eggs laid when there 
is no male in the yards as when he is present. It is really an advantage to 
dispense with the males if eggs are to be kept any length of time. Eggs 
from hens not with males will keep three times as long as will those that 
have been fertilized. •• 

HOW TO JUDGE OF FRESH EGGS. 
A fresh tgg is very clear when held up to a strong light, and the air cell 
at the large end is very small. In fact, the smaller the air cell, the fresher 
the tgg, as the cell expands as the egg becomes stale. A fresh ^gg has a 
somewhat rough shell, while the shell of a stale egg is very smooth. When 
cooked, the contents of a fresh egg stick to the shell, and must be removed 
with the spoon, but a stale egg, when boiled hard, permits the shell to be 
peeled off like the skin of an orange. It takes a longer time to boil a fresh 
egg hard than it does a stale egg, and fresh eggs are more easily beaten 
into a froth than stale ones. 



AN EGG TESTER. 
Make a box about one foot square and the same in height, or, rather, 
about high enough for an inch of the globe of a lamp to come through the 
top, as shown at B, in the illustration. ^ is a hole the size of an tgg, 
over which a piece of black cloth is fastened, and the hole also cut into the 
cloth, so as to fit snugly around the edges of the egg. C C C C are holes 
to let air into the lamp. Any kind of boards, or even pasteboard, will 
answer for making the tester. All that is necessary is to place the box over 
the lamp, as the box should have no bottom. Be careful to allow no light 
to show except at the opening where the egg is held. If preferred a bull's- 
eye lantern may be used instead of a lamp, as it 
magnifies the light. Hold the egg close to the 
opening, the large end up ; look through it at the 
light, and after the eggs have been in the incubator 
or under the hen a week. Clear eggs are infertile ; 
dark eggs contain chicks, unless rotten. Turn the 
eggs around from left to right, or vice zvrsa, and the 
examination will be easier. 

EGGS FOR HATCHING PURPOSES. 
It is claimed that the influence of the union of the cock and hen remains 
until five days after separation, but it is safer to estimate for ten days. That 
is, if a cock is removed from a yard, and one of another breed substituted, 
the eggs, after ten days have elapsed, will produce chicks from the latest 
cock. If eggs are to be kept for a length of time, in order to wait until 
a hen wishes to sit, they will last over a month (and sometimes for two 
months) if they are kept in a cool place and turned half over once a day. 




90 THE POULTRY YARD. 

It is the settling of tlie yolk to the sides of the shell that injures them. 
Never use eggs from fat hens, or eggs that are double yolked, irregular in 
shape, or very small. Uniformity in the shape and size will insure a larger 
percentage of chicks. 

THE BEST BREED FOR ALL PURPOSES. 
A reader, who signs himself "Q," desires information on several points 
which may also interest others. Our correspondent writes : — 

Will you please inform me which is the best variety of fowls for a man to 
keep who has only three acres of land, most all of it in lawn — say half an 
acre in garden, with no fence around it? He wants both fowl and eggs for 
table use. 

The best breed has never been decided upon, as the best breed depends 
upon certain conditions. Each breed is best in its particular sphere. But 
let us look over our correspondent's letter, and see if we can assist him. 
First, what are the conditions? He has three acres of ground, mostly lawn, 
hence he has plenty of forage space ; but the garden has no fence around it. 
Fowls and garden cannot be managed together. A fence is necessary, or 
the hens may destroy the garden. Next, he desires a fowl with market 
qualities (large) and which lays well. If he had wished to know which was 
the best breed for carcass and eggs, with the fence low, and but a small 
space for foraging, we would have recommended the Brahma, and if he had 
desired eggs, without regard to market qualities, we should have recom- 
mended the Leghorns or Minorcas as the best ; but as he desires a good mar- 
ket fowl that lays well, and that forages over a wide space, we can safely say 
that either the Plymouth Rock or Wyandotte is the best, as there is but 
little difference between them in that respect. 

CROSS-BRED FOWLS. 
We believe there would be a good field for cross-bred birds if they were 
advertised. For instance, a cross of Minorcas with any of the large hens 
of the Asiatic breeds would be just \yhat many want, as the pure Minorcas 
are high, and the cross is not easily obtained. Advertising cross-bred fowls 
is a common practice in England, and we see no reason why it should not 
be adopted here. A cross of Minorca and Brahma for eggs, or Dorking 
and Cochin or Brahma for chicks, with eggs sold by the hundred, would 
no doubt be acceptable to many. 

A FEW HENS FOR FAMILY USE. 
Every family has a few scraps to throw away daily, which the prowling 
dogs and cats secure. If such refuse be fed to hens, some return may be 
secured. If ten hens are expensive, reduce to five. Even a pair of hens 



PRACTICAL AND PITHY PARAGRAPHS ON POULTRY. 91 

will pay for themselves by giving a few eggs. With a family, the keeping 
of a few hens is almost costless, and it is not so much for the actual value of 
the eggs as for the securing of strictly fresh eggs that we recommend this 
practice. A large box, a corner in the cellar or woodhouse, or a small coop 
at the end of the yard, will entail but a small expense, and answer well for 
a family flock. 

RATION FOR A FLOCK. 
One quart of corn, or its equivalent, is estimated as the allowance for ten 
hens per day, but this quantity should be diminished when bulky food is 
fed. The estimate, however, will be no guide for feeding, as some hens will 
eat more and some less, but it is about the average quantity to be allowed. 
No person should attempt to feed fowls by any rule of measurement of the 
grain. The proper method is to feed very sparingly during the day, in 
order to keep them hungry enough to scratch, but at night feed them until 
they walk away satisfied, but feed carefully, so as to leave none, or but very 
little, on the ground. By so doing every hen will secure her share, as the 
stronger, or domineering, hens will keep the weaker ones back, but as soon 
as the stronger hens are satisfied they will leave, and the others can then eat 
all they wish. It will be found that on some days less food will be required 
than on others, and the quantity will be regulated by the breed. A dozen 
Brahma hens will eat more than the same number of Leghorns, while laying 
hens will eat more than those not producing eggs. Everything depends 
upon condition, shelter, breed, and kind of food given. 

BUCKWHEAT AS FOOD. 
Buckwheat is an excellent egg-producing food, but it is not always easy 
to obtain. Though more expensive than some kind of grains, per bushel, 
yet it is cheap, considering its value as an egg-producing food. The best way 
to feed it is to mix it with other grain food, or to feed it separately three 
times a week. Never give any kind of grain exclusively. If certain days 
could be given to corn, oats, wheat, and buckwheat, the hens would be better 
satisfied, and give results in laying that would surprise many who feed on 
one kind exclusively. 

THE QUICK-GROWING BREEDS. 
Do not hatch your Leghorns or Hamburgs until April. They will thrive 
much better than when hatched very early, and will have plenty of time to 
grow from April to November. If they are hatched in January, there is a 
possibility that they will moult late in the season, and thus lose time. But 
with the large breeds, hatching should be done as early as may be desired, 
as they require from eight to ten months to fully mature and be ready for 
laying by next fall. Now is the time to look out for next season's layers, 
especially for eggs in winter, as the early pullet begins early. 



92 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



HOW TO USE GROUND MEAT AND BONE. 
For growing chicks the best mode of feeding ground meat and bone is to 
fill up a little trough and place it where the chicks can go to it and eat when- 
ever they so desire. The easiest way to raise chicks, and save labor, is to 
make a small coop of lath, just close enough to allow the chicks to run under, 
but which will prevent the adult fowls from getting at the food. The meat 
and bones, with plenty of wheat and cracked corn, may be placed under it. 
All that will then be necessary is to give the chicks a warm mess of soft food 
twice a day. This is intended for chicks that are large enough to be sepa- 
rated from the hen. 

ARRANGEMENT FOR FEEDING CHICKS. 
Make a coop four feet square, of lath or wire, and if preferred, it may be 
covered. Leave an opening at the lower part so chicks can run in and out, 
and keep a feed hopper full of feed in the coop all the time. The object is 
to have feed where the chicks can reach it at any time, but beyond the hens. 
It is an excellent contrivance for the yards that contain both hens and 
chicks, as the chicks will be in no danger of being interfered with by the 
larger fowls. 




FEED FOR YOUNG CFIICKS. 
To properly feed young chicks the food must be of a kind to promote not 
only growth of the body, but of feathers, which drain the system if the chick 
feathers out rapidly, and they often droop from that cause, which accounts 
for slow-feathering chicks, such as young Brahmas, being hardier than other 
kinds. An excellent food for young chicks is to take one pound each of 
corn-meal, ground oats, bran, ship-stuff, and ground meat, four ounces 
ground bone, two ounces salt, two ounces bread soda, and half a pound of 
buckwheat meal. Mix with milk and bake as bread. If milk is not con- 
venient, use curds, buttermilk, or warm water. Let it become cold, or stale, 
and crumble it for them. Feed the chicks five times daily. After they are 
ten days old, keep cracked corn and screenings before them all the time. 
Keep the chicks warm and dry. Give them free access to water, but put it 
in vessels that do not cause the chicks to get wet, not even on the feet. See 
that they are carefully housed for the night before leaving them. 



PRACTICAL AND PITHY PARAGRAPHS ON POULTRY. 93 

"NO WATER FOR CHICKS." 
The " no water for chicks " theory arose from the giving of chicks water 
to drink in vessels that caused them to get wet, and hence the claim was 
that the giving of water to young chicks is injurious, when, in fact, it was 
the dampness of the floor and the wetting of the down of the chicks that 
did the damage. Give chicks all the water they will drink, but give it in 
vessels so arranged that they can only get their beaks in the water. 

DAMP RUNS. 
Cut drains from the poultry yards and allow the surplus water to flow 
off, if you wish to avoid roup in your flock. Cold is, no doubt, very severe 
on flocks, but cold and dampness combined make it very difficult to keep 
the flock in health and laying condition. If the yards cannot be kept per- 
fectly dry, they should at least be freed of the surplus water, which causes 
frosted feet and other ailments to the hens. 

THE VALUE OF CLEANLINESS. 
One-half the difficulties of poultry keeping may be avoided by cleanli- 
ness. Mr. Benjamin Alden, of Lawtey, Florida, writing on this subject, 
says: " We have occupied our present premises for almost three years. So 
far, we have found, by actual experience, that the only thing needful to keep 
poultry free from vermin of all descriptions is to keep the poultry house 
clean. The droppings are removed every morning as soon as the feeding is 
done — that is, they are swept through a trap door on the raised platform 
over which the fowls roost. They are received in a box beneath, outside 
the coop, and once in two weeks removed altogether." 

HOW MUCH CORN FOR loo HENS? 
We have been asked how much corn should be given loo hens a day, if 
they are running at large. We do not favor corn as a food for laying hens, 
but if given, it should be only at night. The amount required depends upon 
how much food of some other kind the fowls receive. Here is the way the 
calculation is usually made. Give each hen four and a half pecks of grain 
(mixed) a year. Now, four and a half pecks are 36 quarts. Hence, if one 
hen will eat 36 quarts of food in 365 days, it is equivalent to about one 
quart of food for ten hens. We would therefore suggest that if the hens are 
running at large, they be given a pint of grain at night for ten hens, pro- 
vided they receive other food during the day. 

A CHEAP LICE DESTROYER. 
Get a bushel of lime, and let it air-slake. Sift it in a fine sifter, so as to 
have it like dust. Take a quart of the dust and pour a gill of carbolic acid 
over it, working the two together until they are thoroughly mingled. Then 



94 THE POULTRY YARD. 

mix the quart of lime and acid with the bulk of the lime. Carbolate of lime 
is formed by the mixture, and it is death to all insect life. Now dust the 
lime over the floor, on the walls, into the cracks, and everywhere that you 
can throw, dust, blow, or in any manner force it, and you will have a cheap 
and effective substance for preventing or driving off vermin. 

GEESE AND DUCKS. 
February is the month when ducks and geese begin to lay, but March is 
an excellent time to allow the geese to begin incubation, as the goslings will 
then come out in April. It is not advisable to hatch out young ducks until 
May, as July is the time they usually reach the market ; but for those that 
are to reach a large size, April should be the month. There is no difficulty 
in raising young ducks or goslings, provided they are kept dry, and not 
allowed near the water until they are well feathered. The feed should con- 
sist of bulky matter, such as cooked turnips, potatoes, or carrots, to which 
a small quantity of bran and meal is added. Cut clover, steeped in hot 
water, is also excellent. Do not feed too much corn meal. A mixture of 
equal parts of bran, meal, ground oats, and shorts is better than any other 
ground food, and as they need animal food, do not omit meat at least three 
times per week. . 

BULKY FOOD FOR GEESE. 

Geese will eat turnips if they are chopped into small pieces and placed in 
a trough of water, but it is more economical to cook the turnips, add a lot 
of chopped hay and ground grain, and feed warm. If coarse, bulky food 
could be provided for all classes of fowls, it would not only lessen the ex- 
pense, but greatly assist in promoting their health and laying qualities. 

DO WE PRODUCE TOO MUCH ? 
It is claimed that over 20,000 carloads of live and dressed poultry are 
sold in New York City annually, and also 25,000,000 dozen eggs. As 
5,000,000 people buy in New York City, and the population of the United 
States is 50,000,000, we can form some idea of the consumption of poultry 
and eggs, which would be about 200,000 carloads of poultry and 250,000,000 
dozens of eggs. Estimating the value of the eggs at ten cents per dozen, 
we have a product of $25,000,000 from eggs, and if each freight car 
carried 10,000 pounds, we have the great weight of 2,000,000,000 pounds, 
which, at five cents per pound, is ^100,000,000, or a total of $125,000,000 
as the product of poultry and eggs for the whole country, which is, in all 
probability, under the true figures as they would exist if a true census could 
be taken, which is, however, an impossibility. 

BREEDING BY THE STANDARD. 
All the established breeds of poultry are bred to a " standard," each breed 
being allowed a possible 100 points. These points differ according to the 



CA PONIZING INS TR UMENTS. 



95 



breed, but encourage beauty of plumage and form rather than utility. The 
''standard," however, has preserved each breed in its purity by compelling 
the breeders to adhere closely to every little detail, but the choicest and 
most perfect birds may prove inferior layers, the "standard" recognizing the 
exterior qualifications only. It, however, encourages the development of 
prominence to the breast, breadth of back, and gives preference to weight 
in some breeds. But for the ''standard," however, the Brahma would be 
absorbed in the Cochin, and the Langshan would lose its identity in a i^y^ 
years, while the other breeds would suffer correspondingly, due to the fact 
that all the breeds of poultry are subject to the constant crossing and in- 
breeding practiced so extensively by nearly all who keep fowls. 

But the " standard," as in the case of the I^eghorns, gives nearly one-third 
of the loo points to the head, face, and legs of the birds (which are really 
the useless parts in a utilitarian sense), and devotes but a few to elevating 
the characteristics of the breed. The highest scoring fowls, therefore, may 
be only ornamental, yet it is in keeping close to the requirements of the 
"standard" that we have so many excellent breeds. The inherent and 
meritorious qualities of the majority of the breeds, such as the non-sitting 
peculiarity of the Leghorns, were fixed by careful selection before the 
"standard " was adopted. With the exception of a few poultry exhibitions, 
no premiums are offered for the encouragement of the production of carcass 
or eggs, nor for particular records of individual hens. This is due partially 
to the fact that but few farmers take an interest in the shows, or seek to en- 
courage the breeding of the best varieties. The breeders of strictly pure 
breeds have, by rigidly adhering to the standard, prevented the destruction 
of some of the best varieties, and should be given credit for their work. 
For crossing the farmer needs no standard, but if he is going to use the pure 
breeds he should endeavor to secure standard birds, in order to make sure 
that they are all that he desires. 




CAPONIZING INSTRUMENTS. 

The set consists of one fine steel knife ; one steel nickel-plated spreader, 
both well adapted for the purpose ] one improved German-silver cutting and 



96 



THE POULTRY YARD. 



tr' Jag scoop, with fine hook on opposite end ; one fine German-silver 
probe, and four German-silver hooks attached to cords for quickly securing 
the fowl ; all in a fine velvet-lined case, sent to any address by mail, on 
receipt of price, ^3.00. 

ADJUSTABLE DISTINGUISHING BANDS. 

For marking fowls. Numbered from i to 100, or with 
one, two, or three letters. Price 50 cents per dozen. 

Adjustable Distin- 
guishing Bands. 




FIG.I 



f.N^^^. 





Poultry or Roop Syringe. 



POULTRY OR ROOP SYRINGE. 

For the cure of roop and its kindred diseases. Fig. i shows the internal 
application, and Fig. 2 the external. Price, with recipe, 25 cents. 



French Poultry-Killing Knife. 



FRENCH POULTRY KILLING KNIFE. 

The most expeditious and humane way of killing and dressing poultry is 
by the French method. These knives are of the finest steel. Price 50 
cents each. 



BIT TO PREVENT FEATHER PULLING. 

This bit does not interfere with the birds feeding. 
It keeps the bill far enough apart to prevent them 
catching the feathers. Price $1.00 per dozen. 



GAPES EXTERMINATOR. 

An instrument for removing the worms from the 
throat and windpipe of chickens ; the gapes are 
almost sure death unless these worms are removed. 

The instrument is very simple and can be operated by a mere child. Price 

25 cents, with instructions. 




Bit to Pkkven t Feather 
Pulling. 



POULTRY MARKER. 



THIS little instrument is for marking young and old chickens and 
all kinds of fowl. It is invaluable to Breeders and Farmers — 
the markings will enable them to recognize their fowl at a glance, 
cither with or without their feathers. If you have fowls stolen you 
need no better proof than your own private marking, which need not 
be known to anyone but yourself, keeping a register, as follows: 

Invented September 5th, 188C. 



/^ 


^ 


p. Rock. 


/^ 


/s^ 


Wyandotte. 


^^ 


^k 


Brahma. 


p/^ 

^/1^ 


^§ 


Leghorn. 


^k 


Dorking. 


/s^ 


^ 


Cochin. 


/fSN 


^ 


Game. 




^ 


Etc. 


/INK 


Etc. 


5^ 




P. Duck. 


:c'^ 


Turkey. 


-<!>' 


/s^ 


Geese. 


^ 


^ 


Etc. 


<s^ 


'^ 


Etc. 


<!^ 


4|^ 


Etc. 




These fifteen figures can be made into 225 different ways of 
marking. This can be increased by marking the skin of the wing. 
It is a great advantage for young chicks. The eggs are marked from 
the different breeds, and as soon as the chicks are hatched they are 
marked with the punch ; by so doing you can tell their age, and 
every detail in regard to them. This punch is worth its price several 
times over in detecting the chicken thief The cut shows full size. 
They are made in two sizes for large and small chicks, nickel-plated, 
have steel cutter and spring, and are made small and neat to carry in 
the vest-pocket. Sent by mail on receipt of price, 25 cents each. 



Address all Orders and Correspondence, 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Philadelphia 



The Pineland New Model Incubator. 

Woclaiui for tlii.sni;ithiiie.siMi|ili(ity 
of construction, durability, the great- 
est economy of fuel, the most perfect 
regulation of moisture, the most sensi- 
tive and simple regulator ever in- 
troduced. The egg chamber is not 
obstructed by pan, wires, or nuvhan ism 
of any kind, except a therniostati(; 
bar on the sideof themachine, which, 
liowever, cannot interfere witli the 
liatching All the parts are in i)Iaiii 
sight and the egg chamber need not 
be opened to adjust the bar or lamp. 
The rcgulatiii- wcuks horizontally in- 
stead of perpendicularly, thus insuring 
])erfect nicchauical regulation. The 
lamps arcdi'glass and securely fastened 
tothc incubaliir by iron brackets. The 
heat passes through a chimney into 
the air chamlier above ; the water-pans 
are on each side of the flue and are 
exposed constantly to the fresh and 
warm air which comes from below to 
the large chamber holding the water 
pans. This insures perfect ventilation, 
and without pure air no one need 
expect good hatches. No smoke or oil 
can leaeh the egg chamber. Tlie 
popular size of this machine is the 
three hundred and twenty egg style. This we believe to be the finest and most practical machine on the nuirket. 
It is really two incubators in one. Two lamps, one on each side, furni.sh the heat, and either one or both sides can 
be used. This is a feature not po.ssessed by any other nuichine. It also enables one to hatch duck eggs on one side 
and chicken eggs on the other, a feature long desired, but until the advent of this machine never accomi)lished. 
The fifty, one hundred, and two hundred egg sizes are built with one lamp only. These machines are handsomely 
finislicd, with turned legs, and will j)rove ornamental as well as useful. Full aiul clear directions (ar operating 
accompany all incubators .sold. These machines will hatch ducks, chickens, turkeys, pheasants, etc. They are 
as perfect sis human ingeiuiity and practical exjierience can make them. The following arc our jirices: — 
New Model PineUuul, :!'2() eggs, double egg duunbers, $.5."..nO 




•-'(10 
100 
50 



:!.S.iio 
2.1.(10 



THE OUTDOOR BROODER. 



This B r <ioil c r is in 
tended for use outiloors 
and is a complete hou.se 
and Brooder combined. 
Our New Model is a great 
improvement over the old 
style, as will be si'cn in 
the illustration. II is 
rain, wind, and vermin 
proof. It ha.s a movable 
floor and will be found 
suitable fir c h i c kens 
from the luirsery to the 
broiler stage. The 
Brooder lias top heat, 
which i.s natural, plenty 
of frash air without 
draught, and perfect 
venliiation. 





PRtrivS. 



THE INDOOR BROODER. 

It is on the same plan as an Outdoor Brooder, but has the additional advan- 
tage of mothering two Broods with the expense of but one lamp. It has two 
separate brooding chambers, each with a capacity of seventy-five to a hundred 
chicks, thus doing the work of two Brooders of any other make. It does away 
with the the dreaded leg-weakness so prevalent in some hot-air brooders. 

I'rice $15.00 (galvanized tank); f 18.00 (copper tank). 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA. 



■Burpee's Illustrated Manual of- 



Thorouqhbred Live Stock for 1893. 

Undoubtedly the most complete Catalogue of Thoroughbred Stocky 
Fancy Poultry, and Rough=Coated Scotch Collies. Sent without re= 
quest to all Live Stock customers. Free to all others upon appl ication. 

For years we catalogued Live Stock ia our Faem Annual. We now find 
it advisable to issue a separate catalogue entirely devoted to this very important 
department of our business. This new book will be appreciated by all our Iriends 
and customers who are interested in the various breeds of Thokoughbred Sheep, 
Swine, and Fancy Poultry. It is complete with conscientious descriptions, 
and is fully illustrated with engravings from life and snap-shot i)liotographs. Our 
rule is never to ship any but first-class stock, worth the price paid, and which we 
would be willing to pay ourselves were the position of buyer and seller reversed. 
We guarantee all stock sold by us to be thoroughbred and as represented in ererij 
particular, in so tar that should there be any cause for dissatisfaction, the pur- 
chaser is at full liberty to immediately return the stock to us, transportation 
charges paid, and we will cheerfully refund the purchase money. Our Poultry 
Yards and Kennels at Fordhook Farm are open for inspection to all interested 
persons auy day of the week except Sunday; cards of admission can be procured 
at our warehouse in Philadelphia. 

I i\7p QTOr'kT ^^" "'^ safely shipped at all seasons of the year, and 
— .^^.^— ~— — we invariably guarantee safe arrival in good con= 
dition. Customers residing near ports on the Atlantic Coast, as well 
as in South America and the West Indies, can have their stock shipped 
from Philadelphia or New York by steamer at low rates of transportation. 
Correspondence solicited ; information cheerfully given. 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
The Pineland Fountains. 

This fountain is self-feeding and suitable for large 
imd small chickens. It has a great advantage over all 
other fountains in being easily cleaned by simply allow- 
ing a current of water to pass into it. It is the simplest 
and best fountain on the market. Made of the best 
galvanized iron. 

Price 50 and 75 cts. each. Sent by express only. 



Egg Tester. 




Can be put on any ordinary lamp. The most com- 
plete tester on the market. 

Price, postpaid, 50 cts. each. 

Feed Troughs. 

Galvanized iron troughs, for water, grain, or oyster 
.shells, 25 cts. each. Wooden feed troughs, for poultry 
yards. 

Price 30 to 50 cts. each. Sent by express only. 

Thermometers and Moisture Gauges. 

Reliable thermometers and moisture gauges are absolutely necessary in artificial incubation. 
Our thermometers are especially made for us by the Taylor Brothers Company, and are the best 
to be had. 

Price of reclining thermometers 50 cts. ; price of standing thermometers §1.00; moisture 
gauges 25 cts., postpaid. 

Complete circular of Incubators, Brooders, and Supplies mailed on application. 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 




BURPEE'S BOOKS FREE. 

Onr interest iu our customers does not end with the sale of the Seeds ; it is our earnest 
desire that every planter may have a full measure of success with the products of BURPEE'S 
SEEDS. Tlierefore, every dollar sent us for goods offered in our Catalogues, in addition to 
all other premiums, has a credit of 10 cts. toward the purcliase of any hook published and 
offered by us, if the purchaser desires it. Thus, a $2.00 order, with 10 cts. added, can select 
any book offered for 30 cts. ; with 30 cts. added, any book oflered for 50 cts. Or, a $3.00 order 
can select entirely free any book ottered for 30 cts., or a $5.00 order any book ottered for 50 cts., 
and so on, we more than meeting our customers half way in our desire to give them FREE 
tlie l)('st 1)((()ks for the F \i;m and (t.^rden. 

Onions for Profit. 

At last we publish a really complete hand-book on Omon 
growing, the first ever issued ; it is by Wr. T. Grkinkk. No more 
practical and successful Onion grower can be found, and he gives 
his latest, knowledge in Onions fur PitoKiT without reserve. 
The book will undnulitcdly mark an epiieh in works on this sul>- 
Ject. One hundred pages," jirufusely illustrated ; a handsome and 
valuable book. Price 50 cts., postpaid ; or given free with any 
order amounting to f5.00. 

Celery for Profit. 

This new book, just published, is also written by Mr. 
(iRKiNEK. It tells how to dispense with fully nine-tenths of the 
labor generally tliought necessary in Celery growing, and liow 
to make the business pay really big profits. Under the right 
culture and conditions several thou.sand dollars' worth of Celery 
can be raised on a single acre. The book is complete and fully 
illustrated. Price 30 cts., postpaid; or given free with any 
Older for *;5.00. 

Manures, How to Make 

and How to Use Tliem. By Mr. Frank W. Sempers, an 
ex])ert agricultural chemist connected with Kordhook Farm. 
This new book clearly explains the principles underlying soil 
fertilization, and the best methods for making natural and 
chemical Manures on the farm and applying them. A large 
amount of careful work has been dcvfitcd io making this bo(]k, 
and we have no hesitation in saying it is the best yet pulillshcd 
oil the subject. Price 50 cts., postpaid ; or free with any order 
forS;5.00. 

How to Grow Melons for Market. 

We have compile<l from Prize P'ssays and our own experience a book of value to every Melon grower. It treats 
of both Musk Melons and Watermelons. Price 30 cts., postpaid ; or free with any S:i.00 order. 

How to Grow Cabbages and Cauliflowers Most Profitably. 

This book gives the most complete information on the successful growing of these very iinjiortant crops that 
has ever been published. Price 30 cts., postpaid ; or free with any order for S3.00. 

How to Cook Vegetables. 

This new liook by Mrs. S. T. Horer, Principal of the 
Philadelphia Cooking: School, Editor of Table Talk, Author 
of MRS. RORER'S Cook Book, etc., published by us, has met 

with success lieyoiiil our most riauguine expectations ; every fam- 
ily wants a coi)y, as Mi;s. ItoKEit is an acknowledged authority 
by thousands oi the best housekeepers everywhere. The recipes 
given have all been proven by Mrs. Eorer by test in the kitchen 
and on the table. How to cook, how to pickle, how to preserve, 
how to can; also fifty complete menus for spring, summer, au- 
tumn, and winter. A most complete book of 182 pages. This 
new Vjook, of which the copyright is owned liy us, is not for sale, 
and can be had only as preiuium by those who purchase Seeds, 
Bulbs, or Plants from us. In order to place it within the reach 
of all, we offer the paper-covered edition entirely FREE as 
premium on any order amouutiug to ^-3.00, or a copy bound in 
cloth for kitchen use FREE with an order amounting to 3^5.00. 

How to Grow Onions, 

WITH NoTics ON Varieties, giving in full the Prize Essays of 
Mr. T. Greiner, and Onion (tRowini; by Irri(;ation, by Col. 
C. H. Arlie, of Lake View, Oregon, carefully edited, with addi- 
tional notes, including an article on the growing of .sets by 
W. .Vtlee Burpei:. Price 30 cts., postpaid ; <n- free with any 
83.00 order. 

Root Crops for Stock Feeding. 

Every farmer and stock lu-ecder should read this book; a 
practical treatis-e, edited by W. Atlek Burpee, with copious 
additions from our own experience in growing root crops. 
Price 30 cts., postpaid ; or free with any So.OO order. 

How and What to Grow in a Kitchen Garden of One Acre. 

.\ valuable book of '2(10 pages, giving sound, common-sense view^ and iilain, practical teachings. I^'ully illus- 
trated. Price, postpaid, 50 cts. in paper, 75 cts. in cloth ; or IVee with any order lor >f.").(iO or ^7.50. 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA. 




Burpee's 
Farm Annual 

is cheerfully given free to anyone wanting good seeds. 
But as each copy in quarter million editions costs nearly 
fifteen cents, — when everything is counted; you see we 
must have some rules — and we dislike rules. 

If you want seeds and have not a copy of the Farm 
Annual, send us a postal card to-day, and it will come free 
by return mail. 

If you order, no matter how little, and desire the Farm 
Annual you have only to ask for it with your order. 

The Edition for 1893 

is better than ever before. A handsome book of 172 pages; 
it tells all about the best seeds that grow, including rare 
novelties of real merit; honest descriptions and hundreds of 
illustrations, with beautiful colored plates painted from nature. 
Important new features for 1893, — original and interesting. 

Any seed buyer can have a copy free, whether our 
customer or not, no matter. We count on a fair hearing. 

If you are not a seed buyer, but merely want a nice 
book — and it is a nice book, — you should enclose ten cents, 
which is only part of the cost. 

Put yourself in our place. 

W. Atlee Burpee & Co., Seed Growers, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 



:^ % .^ 




o> 



\^ 



